


The tragic tale of two estranged lovers

by madefrommagic



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Anime)
Genre: Attempts at humour, F/M, Friends to Lovers, I'm bad at writing sex though so that doesnt exist, Sexual Tension, anyway kissing happens, like a swear word is in it, set in johto [waves hand vaugely], sex is mentioned???, this...is so fucking...LONG
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-08
Updated: 2019-12-08
Packaged: 2021-02-25 23:28:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 25,411
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21722986
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/madefrommagic/pseuds/madefrommagic
Summary: After an interesting dream, Jessie gets in touch with a few of her feelings, but unfortunately... that only spells trouble. Rocketshipping.
Relationships: Kojirou | James & Musashi | Jessie, Kojirou | James/Musashi | Jessie
Comments: 5
Kudos: 60





	The tragic tale of two estranged lovers

To be a cat-like pokémon was a blessing. It provided excellent sleeping abilities, of which Meowth often believed he was fully entitled to.

Since being sent into the field as a Team Rocket agent, the scratch-cat had come to realise that this divine right of peace could be ruined by two very loud humans. Being naturally thick-headed, they’d failed to understand the entitlement in which he possessed, and so he’d thought it necessary to firmly request a quieter sleeping environment.

In other words, Meowth had presented his claws as blackmail. One look at those sharp talons and the infamous duo blanched whiter than a full moon.

With no hesitation, his teammates proceeded to provide him with more than enough personal space, leaving him to curl up and snooze in perfect seclusion. Though he could still often hear their ‘faint’ whispers to one another during the night, they were, thankfully, far less irritating at a distance. The trios sleeping arrangements had been this way for a very long time now.

On this particular night however, things had currently taken a turn for the worse. It was safe to say Meowth had never been awoken quite like this before. He sincerely hoped this would never, _ever_, happen again.

First of all, the manner of waking was, in short; terrifying. To hear Jessie shrieking at James in the middle of the night was enough to send his nerves into severe overdrive, shattering his dreams and shocking him upright. The sheer frequency of this sound cutting through near pristine silence drove fear straight into his heart.

Surely, the entire world had heard her scream and where now sending out an army in retaliation.

Pouncing stealthily from his sleeping bag, Meowth prepared to defend himself and diffuse whatever situation he would face, knowing a firm fury swipe in the face always sufficed. However, there _was _the possibility that the arguing between the two could become brutal, escalating into a physical fight – of which neither would easily accept defeat. Meowth feared and despaired what he might have to deal with… mainly because it seemed like a lot of effort.

_What on earth could James have done ta upset Jessie in the middle of the friggin’ night?! _He wondered, outraged. _James ya idiot! Can’t ya just leave tha dragon to sleep?_

His head was spinning with swirling adrenaline and anxiety, the start of a headache thumping in his skull. Multiple possibilities flashed through his mind. Worst case scenario, James would get punched in the face and begin to cry, meaning no more sleep for _anyone._

_Why am I cursed with the two most ridiculous humans on this planet?_

With this in mind, the scratch-cat frantically scanned the darkness for signs of the familiar bickering brawl… only to find that there were none. Not a single fist flying. He blinked rapidly into the night, unsure of whether he felt relieved or disturbed by this outcome, but it was true. They were not fighting. All was still in this corner of the world. His feline hearing picked out only one unusual sound: a faint murmuring.

Oh. Jessie was just talking in her sleep.

_Very loudly. _

Now that he thought on it, James might’ve mentioned (extensively complained about) her doing this sort of thing before. Meowth just hadn’t particularly cared at the time, since it had never caused _him _any problems. Not before tonight. He just hadn’t realised that she could be quite so vocal about it. How can anyone shout that loud and not even be freakin’_ conscious_?

Despite being unpleasantly woken, Meowth had decided he was quite relieved to see his teammates peacefully asleep, rather than arguing like children. By the looks of it, the fire had reduced greatly in the centre of the camp site, glowing gently with dying embers rather than flames. He could only just make out the two slight human forms in the meagre light it emitted, their vibrant hair standing out against the darkness. Jessie and James slept side by side in their two separate sleeping bags, huddled together for warmth. Unlike Meowth, they lacked the ability to curl into themselves like a cat, and so tonight they had curled into one another instead. It was cold in the mountain forests at night, and Team Rocket never had a particularly filling diet.

Tonight, their heads were lent together in what was possibly an accidental manner. Meowth wouldn’t put it past them if it were intentional though, since the two were often closer than necessary on most occasions. Even if they’d spent hours bickering, they still somehow ended up like tinned sardines, eternally side by side. This is why he currently had very little sympathy for James.

Regardless of his extreme proximity to Jessie, the guy appeared to be in too deep a sleep to have heard her shout out _his own friggin’ name_. Yes, ‘James’ had been the word she’d screeched, and yet James himself remained completely unaware. His soft snoring accounted for that ignorance.

Meowth felt a stab of pure envy as he eyed the snoozing pair, so blissfully lost within their dreams. James had made a_ choice_ to have a human volcano practically on top of him, yet he still managed to continue sleeping soundly. It was completely unfair. Her shouting was probably all his fault! He didn’t deserve to be so serene!

A quiet rustle of polyester caused Meowth to jump suddenly, cutting off his train of thought. With his nerves already fraught, it was startling to see one of the sleeping bags moving, and for a moment he feared the two might wake and start fussing around like they usually did. Luckily, both remained asleep. Jessie had simply shuffled herself closer to James, still mumbling incoherently. Her head nestled itself into his shoulder and all went still again.

Upon seeing this, Meowth’s anger faded a little. It _was _kind of nice how comfortable the two were sleeping beside one another, trusting each other like that. Whilst he’d been pretending to sleep earlier, he’d overheard their whining and eventual agreement. Neither had made a big deal about the arrangement, in fact they’d been oddly sensible about the whole thing… but perhaps the incessant shivering had been enough to convince them. Feeling momentarily sympathetic, Meowth accepted that being in a deep sleep was hardly surprising after the long trek the trio had endured yesterday.

Their blast off had landed them miles from the balloon, forcing them to walk for hours. Poor Jimmy had become so exhausted that he could barely keep himself standing, complaining the entire way - much to Jessie’s aggravation. No wonder he’d gone out like a light the moment his head hit the pillow (which was sadly just the ground, or, in this case; Jessie’s hair, since they had no actual pillows.) It seemed James had endured enough of the red-head’s shouting for one day.

As if on cue, this mental image was sharply contradicted by the star herself.

_“Ohh James...” _sleeping Jessie suddenly cooed into her comrade’s neck.

Meowth’s mouth fell open in shock. _This_ was vastly different to her earlier harshness, and quite unexpected. His fur bristled at the tenderness her voice now carried, and there was an odd feeling that he should look away, as if he were intruding on some private matter. He was certain that if Jessie became aware that she was being over-heard and observed, she would be absolutely livid.

Which only intensified Meowth’s curiosity, of course.

The only reaction from James was simply a small hum, followed by the settling of his cheek on-top of Jessie’s head. Was he conscious, then? Meowth held his breath a moment, wondering if the lavender haired man would stir and reveal his sly ploy of fake sleeping. Within seconds, his snores started up again, proving otherwise. Meowth had to stop himself from yelling out for him to wake up already. By all known laws of sleeping, James should be wide awake by now, suffering along with him. Instead, he now seemed even more serene than before, apparently due to cuddling _Jessie. _The poor pokémon was torn between embarrassment, awkwardness and rage.

Perhaps Meowth should enact revenge for being disturbed. It seemed the best solution. He was tired himself and did not appreciate this one bit. Jessie and James were the type he would feel no remorse for waking up, and It would be _very_ funny to watch them awkwardly scramble away from one another, as they most likely would. He could sleep happily whilst they were miserable.

It was embarrassing enough to have drama queen teammates, let alone cuddling teammates… and now Jessie was purring at James as if mere hours earlier she hadn’t been screaming his ears off. This was questionable at the very least. He knew humans where complicated, but these two seemed to be the most complicated of them all.

With feline deftness, Meowth quietly slinked towards the sleeping pair, unsheathing his claws and repressing the urge to snigger. The scratch-cat was inches from swiping at James’ peaceful face when he hesitated. His devilish grin slackened as a part of him noted how vulnerable his irksome teammates appeared their sleep, how protective their embrace was.

Close up like this, it was easy to see how their arms were so casually flung around one another. At the sight of such a warm thing, Meowth began to feel the bitter night air more acutely than before. He shivered.

As tempting as it was, he had to face the facts; Jessie hadn’t woken him on purpose. His leverage against her was weak… she would probably shout a lot more if _she_ were awake. He cringed at the prospect of the explosive rage he would receive, the death threats, the potential pummelling. Yeah… perhaps it was best to leave them be.

For his own sake. Nothing to do with how the slumbering fools looked so comfortable together.

Darting away and crawling back into his sleeping bag, Meowth tried to make himself comfy again – which wasn’t too difficult considering he felt as if he’d just dodged a rocket-sized bullet. There was no way to tell what time it was, but he reckoned it must be pretty early in the morning by the looks of how the fire had gone down. Time enough for a few more hours of sleep?

The sleep-talking had ceased, at least. It was silent once more (oh, and how he had missed it.) Listening to the distant hoots of a noctowl, his wide eyes stared at the moon above him until he finally begun to doze off again.

Only to be disturbed, once again, by Jessie. She had been a bit quieter this time. Still referring to James. This was getting very suspicious…

_Wow… he must’a really got on her nerves yesterday if she’s dreamin’ about him. _He pondered, though he barely allowed himself to touch upon the matter (fatigue gnawing at him.)_ Still, why does that mean she has to get on mine?_

With a soft groan, Meowth rolled over, pulling his sleeping bag over his head and burying into it. He wasn’t up for playing detective if it meant getting up early. Hopefully, the fabric would be enough to block out any other noise, because no matter how intriguing the matter was, he wasn’t dealing with them two afterhours… even a Meowth needs beauty sleep.

Soon enough, he was dreaming of success and saucers of milk, a small, lazy smile painted across his face. By morning, Meowth had forgotten all about the sleep-talking adventures. There was only the vague and foggy knowledge of something tender, as if his memories where a lost dream, shoved to the back of the mind, waiting for the right reminder.

As was the power of a feline’s ability to care more about sleeping than anything else.

\--

Team Rocket, despite all their lesser qualities, were excellent at smelling a rat - and that didn’t just mean electric ones. They didn’t always look like rats, after all… it takes one to know one.

Sometimes rats came in the form of talking, sneaky cats, and thus why Jessie had come to a realisation this morning, mere moments after James had handed her a poorly made instant coffee (the tastelessness of the stolen beverage only added to her annoyance)… she was being scrutinised by a talking pokémon.

Meowth, newly christened rat, had been shooting her odd glances on and off all morning. It was very much starting to get on her nerves. Even now with her back turned on him, she knew he was still doing it.

It had been about two hours since waking and systematically packing everything into the balloon. They were both following James through the forest, as he had sworn that he’d seen something of value and insisted they dock the balloon investigate. Perhaps Jessie had been unusually lenient, but it was still no excuse for the way the cat was scrutinizing her. It was similar to a very irritating beedrill buzzing around her head, one that was about to get squashed into a pulp if he wasn’t too careful.

“Is there a problem, Meowth?” she snapped, her annoyance only thinly masked as she finally spun around to stare him down.

Two feline eyes widened in surprise at her sudden outburst, which only infuriated her further. How dare he act innocent when he was very clearly _not._

“Huh?” said Meowth, seeming confused.

Jessie glowered. “_I said_, is there a problem? Do you always stare at me like I’ve personally offended you with my presence?”

“Yeesh, Jess… do you always wake up on the wrong side of da bed?” Meowth shot back, cringing at her sharp tone. “How’d ya know I was even looking?!”

“Don’t insult me, explain yourself!” she demanded, taking his last exclamation as a confession. “Or there really will be a problem!”

“Ahh, no need for dat! I’ll talk!” Meowth assured frantically, taking a large step away from her as he said this. Jessie simply glowered at him, lips pursed, elegant brows raised expectantly.

“I just swear I’m forgettin’ somethin’ to do with youse, dats all,” he explained, still maintaining an obnoxious air despite his cautious stance. Except, he was looking at her with curiosity, his brows knitting together. He truly was trying to recall something.

“Did us two… talk last night?”

_What on earth is this cat on about? _

“No, Meowth, we did not talk. I was fast asleep. Infact, I wouldn’t be too surprised if you just managed to hit yourself on the head without noticing. It seems as if you’re having delusions.” Jessie replied, flicking a hand to signify she was now disinterested.

Meowth not so discreetly rolled his eyes. “Yeah, t’anks for dat lovely response Jessie. And youse were probably being all lovey-dovey and canoodling up ta James again, weren’t ya?” he said, sniggering.

An angry blush tainted her pale complexion, startled by the confidence in his voice. Jessie bared her teeth at the cat as she barked, “how dare you! That… that never happens!”

Meowth casually checked out his claws. “Yeah, suurree it doesn’t... everyone gets dis defensive over nothin’…”

“Why you little-“

Fortunately, an excited yelp from James up ahead ended their blossoming argument. The two friends whipped their heads in his direction, then hurried to catch up with him - mostly concerned he had mistaken something not at all helpful for something brilliant.

“Well, what is it James? What have you found?” Jessie queried, leaning up against his shoulder with a feigned bored expression. Meowth scoffed at this, and she shot him an icy glare, shutting him up. She remained cautiously beside James, paying the pokémon no further attention.

Physical contact provided safety, and it was perfectly innocent. She admits, it had been her initiating the bulk of it today, but she and James had always been on close terms. She hardly noticed their habits. Not to mention, Jessie never really had a problem doing whatever she pleased. Meowth’s teasing be damned.

What was really bothering her was the fact that the cat could be onto something she wasn’t aware of. He had that suspicious glint in his eyes and Jessie could not deny he was a pokémon of stealth, however vexing he may be. The thought of him, or anyone, having the upper hand on her was extremely unnerving.

She considered James, deciding it was best to cover all ground in the team before jumping to conclusions. He seemed himself enough, but she had noticed that the urge to fight with him seemed to have dissolved over-night, her rage now directed solely at their feline counterpart instead. Perhaps Meowth was just being more annoying than usual, whilst James was… well…

James simply smiled boyishly, looking straight on. His entire face had lit up, his lavender hair still perfect despite its ruffled look. Jessie found herself staring quietly at him for a moment, almost captivated. She was wondering what it was that could possibly make him so happy. She followed his line of sight, half expecting to see a pile of bottle caps or something of equal stupidity.

Her jaw dropped.

It was like a treasure trove. There, just ahead of them, was a huge grove of orange trees, and for a moment she was purely happy. Her fingers curled around James’ sleeve as the unexpected joyous feeling overtook her. All that wonderful _free _fruit glistening proudly in the sunlight, and it was all for the taking! The thought made her squeal happily and she took off sprinting toward the grove, giving James a shove as she shot past him.

“Hey!” James exclaimed, immediately chasing after her. “I saw it first!” he whined, reaching out to try and catch her by the waist, only to miss by an inch and fall flat on his face. Jessie laughed at his misfortune. Her spiriting had given her a head start, and she was already clambering up shaking branches, too giddy to notice how high she was going – a grin plastered across her face.

“Jessie, wait, hold on!” James called as he picked himself up off the floor. He sounded quite worried.

“Ahahahaha! Good luck catching up with me, suckers!” Jessie mocked triumphantly from her position on a branch. She lifted a hand to pluck off a juicy round orange that had been hanging over her head. “Everyone knows the best ones are higher up!” She smirked.

“Yeah, don’t know about being da best, but youse definitely gawt da higher up part covered!” Meowth teased, a nervous edge to his usually confident voice.

Jessie looked down in order to stick her tongue out at the little fur-ball, high on her own adrenaline… only to freeze in horror. The feeling quickly turned sour, her stomach dropping like a rotten fruit.

The height she had reached was indeed _very_ high. The branch she stood upon didn’t seem to be very strong either. Deathly silence fell as Jessie peered through the leaves at the great distance between her and the grass below. James and Meowth stared back up at her, both with identical expressions of fear. Nothing happened for a solid minute.

_Creak…_

_Creak…_

_The tree’s creaking._ _The tree’s creaking!?_

That was definitely enough for Jessie to start screaming her head off. She grabbed onto the thin branches above her in a blind panic, rattling oranges onto the floor, the shaking itself only adding to her distress. She hated feeling so helpless and unstable… it inhibited her ability to be amazing.

“I take it back you are da best! Da best at tryin’ to kill us!” Meowth cried as he and James frantically dodged the rain of fruit which assaulted them.

“JAMES!” she screeched, now clutching onto the tree trunk with both her arms and legs. “GET ME DOWN FROM HERE OR I WILL KILL YOU!”

“WHY _ME?_” James whined.

“WHO ELSE? THE FREAKIN’ CATERPIE?”

“I’ll get Victreebel out!” he quickly reasoned, the prospect of climbing all the way up there too much for him to face, apparently.

“VICTREEBEL’S VINE WHIP IS AMATURE AT BEST, NO THANKS TO YOU! JUST STOP BEING A WHIMP AND COME GET ME!”

Jessie didn’t normally like requesting help, but since this was a dire situation, she would have to accept it. The truth was, she was terribly, terribly afraid of heights. Looking down at her teammates was dizzying and horrifying, and she didn’t even have anyone to hold onto. Her stomach churched with sheer anxiety. The ground seemed to be getting further away each time she looked… and on top of it, she was flaming furious! She was all alone in a creaking tree and James was doing absolutely nothing! He knew she was afraid of heights!

Did he not see she was too beautiful to die? Was he not supposed to be her teammate? It wasn’t like he’d be able to catch her if she jumped, he lacked coordination of that sort, let alone the strength.

“JAMES!” Jessie screeched again. “I CANNOT BELIEVE YOU, ARE YOU REALLY GOING TO LET ME PERISH?”

“IT’LL BE WORSE IF WE BOTH GET STUCK UP THERE!” James shouted back.

“IF I DIE, YOU DIE WITH ME!” she stated, and James’ dear eyebrows rose so high they nearly shot off of his forehead.

“Well she’s got a point, Jimmy boy,” Meowth suddenly piped up, sounding as if he had sensed an opportunity and was eagerly taking it. He pushed the shocked James towards the bottom of the tree, a wickedly pleasant smile lighting up his face.

“I can see what she is saying, and it looks like you have no choice. She is your goil. You heard her. Death do us part, and all that,” he explained, as if it were simply a matter of fact.

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN?/WHY WOULD YOU SAY THIS?” Jessie and James shrieked simultaneously. Both had turned an alarming shade of red at the sudden turn. The scratch-cat only grinned in response, knowing Jessie was unable to cause any harm to him stuck in a tree. The results of his evil deed unravelled freely…

James had a strange expression of discomfort on his face at the prospect of marriage vows, his forehead crumpling like paper, and Jessie, unsurprisingly, exploded with anger. She went berserk with shouting insults at Meowth and scolding him for upsetting James, her feet slipping an inch too far in her rage, consequently sending her dangling off the branch by her arms. Her following scream of pure terror seemed to be enough to convince James to spring into action.

“Jessie!” he cried, leaping forward to scramble up the tree like an awkward squirrel. Oh _now_ he cares?

She had to hand it to him, he hid a lot of energy beneath all that wimpy-ness, and his concern seemed genuine enough. James eventually helped her down, once he’d gotten over his own fear of heights in favour of ‘saving’ her. It had been a very long process. Shockingly, continuing to hysterically yell at one another did nothing to speed it up, nor did it help when Wobbuffet let himself out of his pokeball and made Jessie cry. Meowth attempted to be encouraging, but unfortunately, could not stop laughing.

At last, her feet finally found the ground, albeit in a rather rough manner. They’d fallen at the last hurdle, crashing into the floor in a tangled heap, yelping as they poked each other with sharp elbows. Meowth laughed even harder at the sight of this.

“Meowth you are the worst!” James shouted in an angry muffle; his face crushed against the ground once again.

“You are _both_ the worst!” Jessie replied, just as angry. “What kind of rescue was that? I was literally just thrown onto the floor with absolutely no respect, none at all!-“

Now rather numb to her continuous ranting, James lifted himself up with a groan and simply offered a hand to his partner. He was surprised she hadn’t screamed his ears off by now… if anyone could do such a thing, it would surely be dear Jessie. She grabbed his hand rather roughly, making sure her glare was appropriately scathing

“And _you _didn’t help with your whining James, as usual!” Jessie continued as James heaved her up, one arm slipping around her waist, hers snaking across his shoulders. They stumbled once or twice before standing, swaying dizzily with twigs in their hair. Jessie simply clamoured on about how ridiculous it was that they even made trees that high anyway.

Despite her bitter tone, she clung to her teammate as if she were still up there, and as they embraced, her fear diminished into a steady heart rate, allowing a deep sense of comfort to set in. Her ranting quietened, a pout the only remaining indicator of her irritation. James started to speak, intending to say something reassuring, when a familiar voice cut him off-

“Now whose gonna give Meowth a hand! I can’t peel dese oranges, I only got paws!”

They both flat out refused, moaning about his uselessness. _Typical_, thought Meowth, scowling as his claws became lodged into the fruit’s thick skin. He still got a laugh out of them however, as he looked up to see Jessie trip over as she stepped away from James, blushing heavily. James went to catch her, only to be rewarded by her becoming outraged and pitching several oranges right into his face.

_Clowns, serves ya right!_

_\--_

Jessie was having a bad day.

Perhaps blaming the _day _itself was unfair. Infact, it was turning out to be a perfectly lovely day. (As lovely as a day being a loser on Team Rocket could get.)

As a result of their brilliant breakfast from the orange trees, Meowth wouldn’t quit bouncing around. He was positive that _his_ latest plan would be the one that got them the freakishly strong Pikachu at last. The vitamin boost might’ve helped this Team Rocket-natured delusion blossom, but nonetheless, it had managed to rise their spirits for victory. They’d eaten the sun-ripened fruit under a placid blue sky, and as they walked, birds chirped songs into the forest, hidden in the canopy above. Jessie could feel a soft breeze on her face, hear the leaves rustling, smell the sweet scent of flowers.

It was absolutely infuriating. A simple equation made this the perfect spring morning… what excuse did she have to complain?

Something, or rather _someone_, had disrupted her thoughts. All this lovely weather did nothing but irritate her now. She felt flustered, vulnerable and very confused – all emotions which she fiercely abhorred. The discomfort only ignited the urge to be meaner than usual, and luckily, Meowth’s plan was the perfect springboard for trouble! She happily schemed along with him, laughing wickedly.

Until she had spotted a couple sharing a kiss a few paces back, that is.

James and Meowth hadn’t noticed. It was only Jessie who happened to turn her head the moment their lips connected. The sight broke her team spirit, diffused it like a balloon. She decided to take up the task of bashing holes into the earth with her stomping boots instead, leaving her teammates to scheme without her.

It wasn’t because the sight was too intimate for a forest outing. (Though, she admits, on a regular day, she might’ve made a rude comment.)

Peering at her human partner up ahead, Jessie felt the awful sensation of a hot blush crawling onto her face. As if for the millionth time that day, this was happening! And she couldn’t _stand_ it! Ever since the tree incident, her cheeks would burn like an inferno when she looked at him. She was aware this didn’t normally happen. Perhaps she just had a fever from illness?

_Ohh_, but she knew fevers weren’t quite so selective, and even if they somehow were, she felt more _energised_ than lethargic. Just to add, there was also this… startling urge. She had realised that she could simply fling her arms around his neck and put her lips to his, if she wanted too. It seemed she _did _want too - even when he would most likely be all sniffly and gross from all the pollen in the air, (his whining had been enough to alert the entire forest of his allergies.)

Jessie was not uneducated on these matters, being as addicted to fairy tales as she was. She knew that wanting to kiss people was the symptom of an illness much different to a cold or flu. It was certainly not something she had expected to feel for the lavender-haired idiot over there.

This could only mean one thing… one terrible thing… and it was all _her_. James did not seem to be struggling to keep away, nor was he blushing, so it clearly wasn’t mutual. Infact, he had only looked horrified when Meowth insinuated anything between them with his teasing earlier. Somehow that made it even worse. Embarrassing. _Stupid. _

_How dare he? _

With a frustrated growl, Jessie whipped her head downwards, the heat still prickling across her cheeks. It appeared she was having a personal crisis. _What the actual hell? WHY DO I CARE?_

Of course, there was the matter of his ex-fiancé, but Jessie was a separate (much better) women, and still James seemed to be acting as if she were no different, cringing at the idea of marrying her.

_Be quiet, you know that’s not about you, think about James!_

She felt herself blush, again. _Oh, but I am._

“Get a hold of yourself! Forget the stupid _dream_!” she hissed angrily under her breath, her thoughts spilling into restless words. Her gloved fingers clenched into tight fists at her sides, her shoulders hunched nearly to her ears.

_But why on earth would I want him!? _asked her nagging thoughts, as if to drown out ones that felt much sweeter. _Me, wanting to be with James! Of all people!_

Jessie was the irresistible one here. If this was going to happen, it should be the other way around. He should be begging _her_ for attention! Never would she wish to be the flustered, bumbling fool, shying away from her partners gaze. This was disgraceful behaviour, absolutely mortifying, _enraging _even. Puffing up her cheeks, Jessie released a long, tense breath. She took a moment to recall the events of the morning, desperate for some kind of clue that this was not as depressing as it seemed.

She hadn’t remembered the dream straight away, not until after she’d been helped down from that stupid tree…

_“No way, you useless alley cat!” Jessie snapped._

_“I’m not peeling anything for you when all you’ve been today is a pain!” James scolded, as they both scowled in the pokémon’s direction. _

_She and James had witnessed Meowth grappling with an orange as if it were a ball of wool – neither with intentions of helping the meddling cat despite his begging. They simply remained in each other’s embrace, recovering from their very sudden and painful welcome back to the ground._

_It was in this moment that Jessie became aware of James’ hand rubbing her back in a soothing manner, as if she were some injured child. She huffed, opening her mouth to announce that she hadn’t even been that scared!_

_“You’re one to talk about pains James- you acted more like the damsel in distress than me!” she shouted, glaring at the side of his jaw. She was right, as it was only after a few hard kicks that he’d promptly scooped her up and began the descent. _

_James turned to her at the sound of her voice, seeming to focus on her immediately. He was clearly not listening to her reasoning however, as the next thing, he’d gently taken her chin with one hand and was using his other to brush at her face, his gloved fingers pressing softly into her cheek. Jessie became flustered, pouting in anger. He muttered something about dirt, but it was too late for explanations. She battered his hands away, ignoring the sudden flutter in her chest, and began to tell him off. _

_“What do you think you are doing?! Stop it, quit babying me! I told you already! I am perfectly… fine…“ _

_Her reprimands trailed off as their eyes met, a series of thoughts triggered by a simple gaze. _

_She suddenly recalled, in astonishing clarity, part of her night’s dream. Something about his soft expression maybe, the fluttering feeling, the touch… brought it all flooding back. She could almost imagine it as if it were a memory – a hand cupping her cheek, kind eyes, soft lips meeting hers. Rather than anger, a gentle warmth now engulfed her, causing her to want to smile instead. Her blue eyes widened in astonishment at this, her heart hammering. _

_“Yes, you are perfectly fine,” James murmured, oblivious to the sweet chaos now erupting through Jessie’s mind. He tentatively hugged her to him, and she automatically hugged him back almost eagerly - at least glad to hide her face. Dazed and speechless, Jessie rested her chin on James’ shoulder. Her lashes fluttered, her eyelids threatening to close and allow the bliss of the moment to engulf her, but she knew that if she succumbed, it would simply feel the same as climbing up that tree again. _

_No one would catch her if she fell this way. Nothing good could come from being a weak mess for him, surely. Whatever the feeling was, it was futile. With that thought, the once comforting sensation was suddenly too much, too close, too intense. _

_“Jessie dear, what’s wrong?” James asked, suddenly concerned, leaning back to look at her. “You’re trembling, are you hurt?”_

_Jessie stared at him, her fists clenching tightly as she fought herself. It was as if her emotions were entirely out of her control, embarrassing her for no good reason, and she could feel her face heating up in plain sight, right before his wide green eyes. Extracting herself from his hold too quickly, she nearly tripped over her own feet, her heel snagging a tree root._

_“Oh, it’s nothing, nothing, I’m fine!” Jessie gasped, blindly reaching out to find only thin air, fearful as she realised; she was falling backwards. Just as she’d imagined!_

_And then, she wasn’t. James’ arms came to steady her again, his stupid face all soft and worried. Her heart was choking her as her arms flew around his neck in panic, reflex taking over. Their noses bumped, and that was it. She froze. The hyperawareness of such a thing, of body heat, of her hot cheek against his, of their breathing in gentle tandem... oh… oh hell no. It was too lovely. It had to stop immediately, lest her romantic side utterly betray her, and she did something stupid like let him kiss her (as if he had the gall anyway.)_

_Taking no risks, Jessie promptly shoved James backwards, screeching a high-pitched cry. She stooped to pick up an orange off the floor, and then launched it at him, followed by another, and another. _

_“Ow! Jessieeee, stop it- ow! Stop throwing those things!” James complained, cowering and covering his head with both arms, “What did I do now!?” he cried in muffled confusion._

_“I. TOLD. YOU. TO. QUIT. BABYING ME!” _

Jessie blinked, staring down at the dirt track of the present moment. The memory was still too fresh, too complex, too… _real. _It would be a lie if she said she hadn’t been replying it in her head, over and over again.

“Grrrrrrrrrrr!” she growled, stomping the ground harder as she flinched from the emotions, wanting nothing more than to crush them into dust. They only strengthened the truth. Ever since that moment, she had been fantasizing like a schoolgirl, and she couldn’t even deny it. This sudden new feeling in her chest was insistent and painful and ruining her life. Oh, fantastic!

Even now, whilst she watched James talk to Meowth, all she could think of was shutting him up with her mouth. Maybe, if she just ever so casually tripped him up, he’d land on top of her and…

_NO! James is not kissable! He is my friend, my teammate! I shouldn’t be thinking of this!_

But her mind insisted otherwise, flooding her senses with useless fabricated romantic fluff. It was insane. She was breaking out into sweats, anger and desire becoming her. Jessie had never thought it was possible that her limbs could be both tense and weak at the same time, yet here she was. What kind of nonsense was this? Perhaps, now and then, she had allowed such a thing to cross her mind, but never had it been more than a passing thought… this dream had thrown her completely.

What wasn’t helping, was the fact she had also become paranoid that Meowth somehow seemed to _know_. There appeared to be no other logical excuse for his behaviour today, the weird looks he’d been shooting her, the jibes about her and James. This only enraged her further, as she knew that if she brought it up with him, _James_ would possibly want to know what they were discussing. Her own damn cat could well and truly blackmail her at this point.

This was a dilemma, whether she liked it or not.

“Meowth, why is Jessie growling at the ground?” James quietly asked his feline partner as they continued up ahead.

“I don’t know! Quit worrying about her and listen to Meowth! I’m just gettin into da good part of da plan!” Meowth replied, sighing when he realised James was completely ignoring his advice and was no less distracted.

“Look if ya really want my opinion, she’s probably just angry the rocks don’t ‘ppreciate her beauty or somethin… that goil only cares about herself.”

James stifled a laugh with his hand, worried Jessie might hear, yet unable to ignore the hilarity of such a mental image. Meowth was right, that was a very Jessie thing to do… but he did feel bad laughing at her when she was only meters away. It seemed cruel.

“That’s not very nice Meowth!” he said on her behalf, clearing his throat as if that would cover up the fact he had indeed laughed.

“We’re in team rocket ya numbskull, we’re not meant to be nice!” Meowth pointed out, then simply carried on talking about his plan.

The boys hadn’t been too concerned that their red headed partner seemed more irritable than normal today, mostly on account of the fact that Jessie always had a bite to her tone - and an attitude to go with it. She also had a habit of smacking them. Surprisingly enough, neither wanted to be her target.

James in particular had long ago realised that questioning Jessie’s outbursts never ended well for him. Even if she had awkwardly stumbled from his grasp earlier and hit him with an orange or two (whilst screaming, if he may add) for no apparent reason, he thought it best not to ask or argue his case. She’d had a scare up in that tree, and he had only annoyed her more afterwards by doting. _Doting_.

How could he be so stupid?

Jessie had _always _made a big deal about how she didn’t need help. Asking for it will have embarrassed her, and he had only made it worse by ‘babying her’, as she put it. Looking back, it made sense for her to bruise him with fruit. His sulking had made no difference, in fact she had simply been ignoring him ever since - but he could handle how that stabbed at him well enough.

It was just… her sudden silence that seemed very strange. Ever since a few paces back, he had noticed a purposeful diminishing of her presence in the team, as if she was retreating from something. Her lack of explicit anger was unnerving and out of character, causing him to keep glancing over his shoulder both out of nervousness and concern.

As Jessie continued to trail behind them on their way to find the twerps, James had a persistent feeling something wasn’t quite the right today. She would normally be marching out in front as the leader or stuck by his side, perhaps with Meowth in-between. Instead, she was staring at the ground with a thoughtful, almost frustrated expression. She also seemed to be growling to herself, and unless Jessie was becoming a Growlithe, this was rather abnormal so early on in the day. They hadn’t even had the chance to lose to the twerps yet.

Surely, he could ask her if she was okay. She couldn’t be offended over that…right? No, it was a perfectly innocent gesture. Satisfied with this plan, James ceased walking and waited patiently for his friend to catch up.

Until this moment, James had been listening to the chattering Meowth and sharing the occasional word of agreement. Absorbed by his own glee and fuelled by James’ (and previously, Jessie’s) faith, the said pokémon carried on walking along and boasting about the greatness of his plan, unaware of the complete lack of teammates beside him.

“It is obvious dat _I_ have always been da true brains of dis here team!” Meowth said smugly, baring his pointy little teeth in a grin. He was waiting for the chorus of protest and annoyance from his human friend. It was when none came that Meowth finally turned his head from side to side and realised he was walking alone. 

The scratch-cat span around swiftly, lifting his paw up to shake a fist. “Hey, what’s da big idea!? Youse think it’s funny to ditch Meowth?! Well I - Huh?” Meowth blinked, stopping mid-sentence.

“What’s this?”

His expression of betrayal suddenly dropped into one of curiosity. Nearby, he could see Jessie and James stood in front of each other on the sunlit path. Jessie was radiating pure anger. Infact, she should be classified as a radiation hazard, her arms were so tightly crossed, her nose stuck in the air. She was refusing to meet James’ eye, whilst he simply pouted at her in his childish manner, slouching sadly.

She seemed very annoyed at him, though it was no surprise, Meowth knew James was an idiot to bother her when she was like this. However, this was clearly no ordinary Jessie mood… he’d seen the way she had acted after James caught her earlier. It was very unlike her to be _bashful (_bashing, maybe, but not bashful_)_, and now, she was ignoring her best friend’s attention altogether… this only aroused further suspicion.

_Odd_, Meowth thought. _James hasn’t spoken a word against her since the orange incident. What could she be angry at ‘im for now?_

This, and the way they were interacting, stopped Meowth from yelling at them to kindly stop yappin’ and get a move on. His plan seemed much less interesting all of a sudden, and he kind of wished he had a bag of popcorn to hand.

“Jessie, you’re not still angry with _me_, are you?” James asked, ever so politely.

Jessie pursed her lips. “I think you’ll find that is exactly the case,” she deadpanned.

“But I thought you _wanted _me to help you!” he complained, snapping from his gentlemanly manner as if it were simply a decoy. Her attitude provoked him. If James could produce flames, Jessie could easily make him hot-headed enough to do so, and usually a look was all it took.

Composing himself, James added a soft, “I’m sorry,” and reached out to take her hand, only for her to snatch it away from him. There was a noticeable, light blush forming on her cheeks. _That _was unexpected. Meowth pricked his ears up, shocked and intently curious.

Jessie was perfectly aware of it.

“And_ when_ did I insinuate that I needed your help James?” she asked haughtily, deciding this was the best excuse she had to direct her overwhelming irritation at him.

It’s not like he’d _leave_ her over it. He’d endured her anger countless times, yet still remained._ Well, we are teammates, it makes sense that he is extremely loyal to me, _Jessie reasoned with herself. The thought only made her more flustered, rendering her logical thinking completely counterproductive. It had just dawned on her that this overbearing loyalty was incredibly attractive, and she had the urge to strangle him for it, if only to make his lips seem less inviting.

“You asked me to help!” James whined. “You said you’d kill me otherwise! I had no choice in the matter!”

“Okay FINE!” she huffed, throwing her hands up when she realised that he was in fact, correct.

To make matters worse, James now looked as if her distain _was_ killing him, and the thought sent her into further turmoil. Her heart was beating wildly as she looked into his earnest eyes, darting her own gaze around nervously, looking, not looking, looking, not looking…

“But you didn’t have to hold me like that, especially if you don’t mean it!” she blurted awkwardly, regretting it immediately. Her face seemed to heat up beyond control. Did she really just say that?

“What _are_ you talking about?” James asked, blinking incredulously at her. Jessie just muttered angrily to herself, avoiding him. She was still recovering from her blunder, her arms wrapped around her middle.

”Are you sure you’re alright…?” he persisted, concerned. He tried to reach out for her once again, but she took an obviously large step away from him.

“I’m fine!” she snapped, “don’t touch me!”

James blinked and shook his head slightly, utterly bemused, his eyebrows drawn together tightly. She knew exactly what he was thinking. They’d hugged countless times, held hands, even slept in the same bed on a few occasions… since when was this a problem? It would hurt him to think that maybe all along she had hated it. Infact it could not be more opposite, but it would take more than two green puppy dog eyes to make her tell him this scandalous piece of news.

“I-I didn’t know you felt so strongly about this Jess.” James said glumly after a moment, the crack in his voice confirming her predictions. “You never said anything against it before. I should’ve asked, I’m sorry d-dear…”

His gaze was still locked on her, never once dropping. She now stared back like a deer in headlights, her guard dropped inadvertently as they peered into each other’s souls. It only took a spilt second for Jessie to catch herself, to shake off the trance like water. She rolled her eyes and huffed, directing her gaze away from James immediately, though the feeling still lingered like smoke.

No matter the sheer strength of her stubbornness - and that was a very sheer strength - she knew deep down the true reason she was acting this way. James was getting her all hot and bothered… and he was staring at her like that. Like he’d die if she didn’t forgive him.

Jessie wouldn’t normally stop to consider feelings. They were, in her experience, fickle. She acted on impulse, asked questions rarely, and almost never apologised. But now that she had noticed the anguish which _she_ caused James to feel, this hurt her inexplicably. So, naturally, Jessie flipped out.

“Okay, whatever! Why does it matter to you if I’m angry right now, this is none of your business! Just, go away, you moron!” she snapped, venom dripping from her words and hitting James like a rain of poison sting. Yelling at him seemed the only way to stop the horrendous emotion within her, and so Jessie stood by her choice. She refused to acknowledge how much she was shaking, purely because she refused to believe this was actually happening to her.

“But you are angry with _me_ most of the time!” James grumbled, holding his hands up as a sign of peace when she advanced on him. She whacked him on the shoulder anyway, and he offered her a displeased pout, rubbing the injured spot. His puckered lips did not make matters any easier for her.

“Well, I still don’t see why it matters! Maybe if you weren’t such an incompetent teammate, I wouldn’t be so angry!” Jessie continued to yell, whacking him one more time for good measure.

It _was_ all technically his fault, anyway. He was the reason she’d had the dream, _whatever that meant_, he was the reason she felt so torn, and so he was to blame. She was allowed to yell at him, provoke him, anger him.

“But- Jessie! I…” James begun to plead, his voice bordering on hysteria. It seemed a little much for the situation. Before she could even consider this properly, he had stridden forward, his hands hovering over her shoulders, their faces dangerously close all of a sudden. Jessie stared a little wide eyed at this, her shouting reduced to stunned silence. James had quieted down too, simply staring back at her, his voice much softer when he finally spoke again.

“Don’t you understand? I…“

For a moment he had her full attention, the anticipation of what he _might_ say choking her. That is, until he stopped as if his words were stuck, and the silence dragged on long enough to irritate her. It was driving her crazy.

He seemed to swallow rather nervously. “I…”

“You _what_?” Jessie snapped, a sudden fear taking over her. It was all she could do to outmatch her own hammering heart, to cover up the fact she was letting him come this close to her mere moments after telling him not to. She glared right at James, ready to rip at him some more. She only hesitated when she registered his face. His pained expression was enough to take a chunk out of her heart, but Jessie remained indignant.

“Well? Spit it out!” she challenged, prodding him in the waist. “You _know_ I hate waiting James, especially when you mumble like that.”

Hopefully, he would start shouting at her as well, and that would be such a relief. Everything would go back to normal. She couldn’t be attracted to him if he was acting like a jerk, just like she couldn’t feel bad about what she was doing if he did it too. As it were, stealing pokémon was always easier as a pair.

“I-I guess you’re right…it doesn’t matter,” James said quietly, every syllable filled with dejection. He stepped back from her. It was obviously not what he was going to say. This was all completely incorrect.

“Urgh, James! You’re just wasting my time!” Jessie cried in frustration, annoyed that she felt… _disappointed._

“I’m sorry, I’ll-I’ll leave you be…”

She rose a brow. Why was he apologising again? She knew fair well that he could fight back. So why wasn’t he even trying? She was about to yell at him about that too, when she noticed something else… James now looked like he was about to cry. His bottom lip was quivering ridiculously, and he was the one refusing to make eye contact now. The sight set off alarm bells within her, giving her the sudden urge to reach out and hug him. _He’s…he’s just a lost little lavender evee whose been cruelly kicked… and I am the cruel kicker!_

And now she was comparing him to adorable pokémon?! This truly was a personal crisis.

Nonetheless, he was still her best friend, and he was upset. Jessie had come to realise that he didn’t _really_ do anything wrong, and as well as feeling embarrassed, that only made her feel all the more terrible as he struggled to keep himself together in front of her. This was the price of affection, an infection of the heart. It was the reason so refused to feel it most of the time, but James somehow managed to reach into her heart and make her smile, or, in this case; frown. The burden of such a thing was crushing and it disturbed her. They were meant to be villains! Evil!

Despite this voice of reason, she still felt… _bad_. A softer voice spoke up. So _what _if she had one awkward dream about him? Did that really matter now? She squeezed her eyes shut.

“James, look, I didn’t mean to-“ Jessie began more gently, but when she opened her eyes again, she saw that he had already run away _from her_. There was no trace of him other than the shaking of leaves as he vanished into the forest. It left her even more confused to be suddenly stood alone, staring at nothing. Her heart felt as if it were bleeding, and her lips fell open and closed, a sickening feeling ricocheting through her bones. James was… gone?

“What did you go an’ do dat for!” Meowth’s voice suddenly yelled at her. The cat was now by her feet, having come over to her. Jessie looked down at him to see he was casting her a disapproving glare.

“He was only lookin’ out for ya! Why else would he stop and wait up!”

Perhaps it was the feeling of dread in the pit of her stomach, but the phrasing of that hit her_. James was… only looking out for me? James only stops for me? _

Her eyes watered, and she turned away from Meowth, covering her face. Alarmingly, it felt as if she were dying inside, which was not ideal. Jessie quickly realised this was remorse for what she’d done just now. Remorse so deep and powerful that it could drown her, and it was a truly despairing feeling - especially without her teammate beside her. This was ridiculous. How could one dream turn into _this_? How could she feel regret for something that happened too quickly to even think through?

“I… I don’t know…” Jessie said quietly, looking over to where James had disappeared into the trees.

“Sometimes _I_ don’t know why he even puts up with you, Jessie!” Meowth said, excepting her to snap in response as she normally would. Except, she didn’t.

“Why? Does he really find me that unbearable?” she asked, only a trace of her sharpness lingering between preoccupied concern.

Meowth was unprepared for such a question, stammering for a moment. Never in his life would he think Jessie could be so openly insecure, although… for some reason, the slight softness in her voice did not feel so unfamiliar. Perhaps this was the reason he shared what he did.

“No, I don’t think it’s like dat,” he began, sighing. “He gets all upset sometimes after ya yell at ‘im. When youse aren’t looking, he starts moping about and lamenting, dramatic weepin and all dat. It’s usually somethin’ along da lines of, ” - Meowth paused, attempting to put on a whiny, James-like voice –

“ ‘why is it always _my_ fault Meowth? What did _I _do wrong? Why does she hate _me_?’ - yadda yadda. All dat self-pity. Which is more than I wanted to deal with in dis team, I’ll tell you dat.”

Meowth knew that Jessie was unlikely take this as constructive criticism. Still, part of him felt she ought to know the damage her teammate took from her, even if she would see it as a personal insult. Of course, he wasn’t going to say he reckoned James had a bit of a crush on her. Telling her that was just asking for trouble, and honestly, Meowth felt they had more than enough of that on a daily basis. Why else were they always preparing for it?

Much to his shock, Jessie did not get angry. Instead, after a very tense silence, she let out a wailing sound. He quickly realised she had burst into tears, and before he could even register it, she ran off in the same direction as the other human, ploughing madly through the grass off the path. She hadn’t even addressed Meowth to confirm their search had begun. No, just one moment she was still, and the next, she was running at the speed of light.

“JAAAAAAMES!” she shrieked, sobbing melodramatically. Something like raw emotion, overwhelming and cutting.

A flock of wild Pidgeot came bursting from the forest moments later, crying out in horror as they flew to the skies to get as far away from the banshee women as possible. Jessie kept screeching nonetheless, and Meowth gaped in shock at the scene, thoroughly flabbergasted.

“H-hey Jess! Wait for me!” he cried, taking off on all fours. He suddenly felt rather concerned for his friends.“Them two just get weirder every day,” he muttered to himself, struggling to process whatever had just occurred. He had a feeling this was going to be a very long day…

So much for his mastermind ploy.

\--

James was completely distraught.

Between the event and where he was now, somewhere between the trees, he had concluded only Jessie could have such an effect on him. The whirlwind force of this diva could tear him down with one swipe and leave him to bleed without batting a blue eye. Just because he would always let her. 

He knew that she was a hot-headed individual, just like he knew she sometimes got angry for reasons he could never _truly_ understand. But he understood _why _she was that way, and he thought they had some sort of mutual feeling of care for one another. He thought she knew he only wanted to look out for her, and that it _did_ matter to him if she was sad, or upset, or hurt. Her cruel words and hitting weren’t really personal to him, and if they were, it was only for a short while.

Now he didn’t know what to think.

Jessie had never lashed out at him like that for simply asking what was wrong. She had never been so stand-offish with him either or rejected his comfort. They usually shared their problems between each other. Double trouble forever. Except now he felt more like a lonely wet lettuce… and like an idiot.

_Obviously, she has always despised me. _

Jessie’s words replayed in his head as clear as the moment they’d left her lips, but what hurt the most was that look on her face when she’d snapped “you _what?_” Her glare had been so cold. He could hardly believe he’d been seconds away from confessing feelings for her when she couldn’t even bare to be near him.

He was questioning everything. Where his actions not enough? Was it possible she just saw him as some colleague to simply tolerate? Was their relationship not meaningful as he’d been imagining?

Fresh tears spilt down his face as the pain re-entered his heart, and James continued to run, stumbling over rocks and nearly landing face first in the dirt. He would leave her alone if that’s what she really wanted, of course. Even if it broke his heart. Which it would, obviously. He was truly an awful villain.

_I don’t want to be around her anyway!_ He thought angrily, and his tears came more thickly, his legs moved faster. He knew this was far from the truth. Jessie was exactly who he wanted to be around no matter what, and that only made it feel _worse. _

_“JAAAAAAMES!”_

James came to a halt rather abruptly when he thought he heard her scream out his name. It was distant, but one hundred percent Jessie. That tone of voice was stamped into his mind like a well-played song. She sounded just as distraught as he felt, and for one striking moment, he reckoned he must be crazy to think she didn’t really care about him.

He had always thought that she could handle anything, that he’d never have to truly worry about her… yet the sound of her sorrow managed to make his heart stop, and he asked himself an entirely different question.

Could it be that she needed him just as much as he needed her, but she simply felt… afraid?

Nonetheless, she was still his best friend, and she was upset. He had once promised that he would never let her down, and he had meant that. That included making sure she never felt abandoned ever again. Which he had just done to her.

_Oh dear. _

Suddenly feeling frantic, James tried to gauge the direction he had come in, the ringing of her voice all he could seem care for. Sadly, every tree looks the same in a forest.

_How could I just abandon Jessie? _

His heart thumped in his ears as he looked left, then right, then behind again. Or was that straight on? Navigation was never a team rocket forte… flying solo was harder than it looked, and just to add to it, feeling lost only encouraged his sadness to grow deeper. The odds were not in his favour today, and he feared he might just loose the most important person in his life. He suddenly felt terrible for leaving Jessie alone up in that orange tree for as long as he had done.

Then, much to his alarm, a large group of distressed Pidgeot came hurling from nowhere with their beaks pointed straight at him. As they flew towards him at a great speed, James couldn’t say he felt very surprised. Nonetheless, he let out a piercing scream, and ran for his life.

Unfortunately, that also happened to be further away from his Jessie.

\--

Ash Ketchum was having a strangely pleasant day. It was already half-noon and no one had attempted to ambush him, recite a boring motto, or steal his Pikachu.

“Wow, we haven’t seen Team Rocket in over twenty-four hours,” Brock remarked as they strolled along the banks of a peaceful river. It appeared he was having a similar thought to Ash. Infact, Brock often believed Team Rocket had caused them all to develop a nervous tick, despite how easy the trio were to defeat.

“Yeah…” Misty replied thoughtfully. “It’s kinda suspicious if you ask me.”

“Whatever, who cares! I’ll be glad if we never see those three losers again!” Ash exclaimed cheerily, marching onwards. He was desperate to get to the next gym quickly as possible, and the lack of Team Rocket was helping immeasurably. However, no sooner had he said this, did he hear the sound of distant squawking. The group all stopped in their tracks.

“Uhh…what’s that?” Ash asked. The sound was steadily getting louder. Ash rummaged around in his pocket for a moment before retrieving his pokédex, which he quietly opened.

“Pidgeot” said Dexter. “The bird pokémon. The evolved form of Pidgeotto. It can fly at twice the speed of sound at an altitude of nearly one mile.”

“Pidgeot? But where?” asked Misty, puzzled. A moment of silent confusion passed. The intense flapping of wings could be heard.

“THERE!” Brock suddenly shouted, pointing up ahead at a dust cloud, where a large hoard of Pidgeot seemed to be emerging. Ash and Misty screamed. Brock grabbed them both and plunged them into a set of nearby bushes, right before diving in after them.

“Why… why would there be so many?!” Misty wheezed once they had all landed.

“Beats me…” Ash replied. His eyes suddenly lit up eagerly as a thought came to him. “I’m gonna catch them all!”

“Pika!?” cried Pikachu urgently, disagreeing with their trainers thought. Pikachu grabbed onto Ash’s jacket and tugged. “Pika-Pika!”

Whilst Misty and Pikachu desperately tried to keep Ash from running into the path of death, Brock simply stated, “If I recall correctly, wild Pidgeot often fly in formation when they perceive a dangerous threat. It must have been a pretty large one, if you ask me.”

“Interesting,” Misty said, clonking Ash on the head with her fist.

“Wait!” cried Ash, springing back to life immediately in order to stand straight up. “Is that… JAMES FROM TEAM ROCKET?!” he screamed.

“WHAT?!” Misty and Brock exclaimed simultaneously, now standing up themselves.

“Togeipriii?!” said Togepi from within Misty’s arms.

What they saw next both shocked and amazed them. Firstly, there was James from team rocket, rapidly approaching, at such great speed his legs were nearly invisible. Secondly, there was the pleading gaze of the desperate man as he spotted the three twerps watching him. And thirdly, there was the ganging up of Pidegot on the said man, during which they lifted him by latching their beaks onto his uniform in order to carry him off into the sky.

“LOOKS LIKE TEAM ROCKET’S BLASTING OFF AGAAAAaaaiiinnn….” James cried mournfully, disappearing with the Pidgeot into the distance (ping.)

Ash, Misty, and Brock simply gawped, speechless for a few moments. No one really knew what to say about the matter, in fact it was strange enough to see only one third of the infamous trio.

“Wow,” Ash said quietly. “What do you think James was doing?”

“Dunno,” Misty replied, mystified.

Brock scratched the back of his head, at loss. “I’d say we should help him, but I honestly feel this is out of our depth. It would be impossible to know where those Pidgeot took him.”

“Oh well,” Ash and Misty said, shrugging - clearly not that interested in the first place.

“He’ll probably be fine. Don’t Team Rocket always get thrown into the sky anyway?” Misty reasoned, climbing out of the bush and brushing herself down. Ash, Pikachu, and Brock followed suite.

“Yeah, and he was probably up to no good!” Ash laughed. “Stupid Team Rocket!”

As the two kids laughed together, Brock stared pensively into the sky. He couldn’t help but feel he had recognised something in James’ eyes, something which resonated with himself on many occasions. Perhaps it was simply because his life had been in danger, but Brock could not deny the look of heartbreak and pleading that he had seen in the young man’s gaze.

“I suppose we’ll have to see,” he murmured. “There could be a perfectly good reason for their absence after all.”

\--

In another part of the forest, the languish morning was slowly becoming an even more languish, horrible, afternoon. Meowth had been following the hysterical villainess for a few yards, only to have come to an abrupt stop for what felt like fifty years. It had been fifteen minutes.

“Jessie,” he sighed, crossing his arms. “I hate to break it to ya but… we’re not getting’ anywhere if ya keep cryin’ ya eyes out! Just talk to me!”

At this, Jessie sat up from where she had sprawled herself across a patch of grass and glared at Meowth, the fury of a thousand fires burning in the reflection of her swimming blue eyes.

“I DON’T NEED YOUR ADVICE MEOWTH, I AM NOT EVEN CRYING!” she screamed; her tear stained cheeks claiming otherwise. “I’M JUST… _RESTING_ FOR A MOMENT!” 

Meowth recoiled rapidly, nodding. He _had _expected her to be volatile but, as of yet, was unable to turn off his feline reflexes. Which was probably for the best. There was a reason wild pokémon fled from the sound of Jessie’s screams… _they wanted to live._

“Alright, alright, calm down will ya! You can rest all ya want! Rest!” he exclaimed, swiping at the air and nearly scratching her in the face. Oh, imagine that, on today of all days.

“_How _can I calm down Meowth?” Jessie moaned dramatically, flinging an arm across her forehead and falling onto her back again. It was a rhetorical question, of course, simply highlighting how stupid his demand had been. Petals and leaves flew up upon impact and slowly drifted down onto her face and body. She twitched in discomfort thinking of her perfect appearance being marred, her face screwing up in annoyance and despair.

“I told James to go away and he took it seriously! What the hell, does he think I don’t want him around or something?!” she blurted out, surprised by the tremble of her own voice.

“Well, yeah, it _did_ kinda seem that way,” the scratch-cat pointed out.

“…HE JUST HAS TERRIBLE PERCEPTION SKILLS! SHUT UP!” Jessie screeched, then proceeded to sob again. She wasn’t even thinking of the stupid dream anymore, only of how unexpectedly painful it was to feel she had driven James away. To know how he cried over her behind her back, especially after he had treated her so _sweetly _all morning, was like a sharp punch in the stomach. And that look he’d given her, when he’d said she didn’t understand… what the _hell_ was going on?

“Alright, alright! I’m just sayin’!” Meowth continued, nonetheless. “Why are you getting ya feathers all ruffled about it anyways? You never seem to care this much.”

“THAT’S NOT TRUE MEOWTH OF COURSE I-“

Jessie shut her mouth, refusing to finish that sentence. She didn’t need that fur-ball judging her every move, it was embarrassing enough… to be so upset over this. Meowth was just running his big meowth, as usual. Except this time, he was offering her up cold truths, hitting her right where it hurt.

“I’m tired, alright, leave me be…”

Meowth watched in confusion as his friend curled into herself again. This persistent, although appropriately dramatic, weeping over James was very unlike her… he was always under the impression the pair didn’t dwell on emotions, (or at least, Jessie didn’t.) Why they were insisting on being strange today was beyond him. Not to mention sticking him in the middle of it in the process. He knew they were both just sat in different parts of the forest, torn over what the other might be thinking. Trust them to make this his problem…

Unless…

Something wasn’t quite so clear.

Meowth sighed. Whatever it was, he did feel sorry for Jessie right now. She looked as if she might actually come apart, and he didn’t like seeing his usually confident and self-assured friend in this sad state. But what could _he_ do? She kept demanding that he should also go away and was trying very hard to hide the fact she was crying (not very well, since she seems to have forgotten crying is also, uh, audible.)

One thing was for sure. James obviously would be coming back for her, without a doubt. Meowth was just about to tell her this, when his ears flicked at a new quiet sound, halting his thoughts. He soon realised this noise was also coming from Jessie. He cocked his head at her, confused again, but she paid him no attention.

Oh. She was muttering to herself without realising.

Then he was hit right in the face with de-ja-vu. _Jessie had been talking in her sleep last night._

That’s what he’d been trying to remember all morning, and suddenly it made sense. She’d woken him up by shouting out James’ name, in what he had assumed was anger. Perhaps she’d had a bad dream? He studied her silently, contemplating this.

Or perhaps she’d had a _good_ one… that he’d rather not think about. It wouldn’t be too surprising but still, he really did not want to think about it. She’d probably have him hung. But... Meowth had a feeling these two events where connected in some way. He was unsure how to ask her (nor was he very happy to recall being woken so rudely.) He knew how Jessie hated others knowing of any vulnerability, and she _definitely_ would not be happy he’d been watching her sleeping, but it was all just so very suspicious and extremely intriguing…

_Why would you just run off on me like that…_” he heard her say to herself, then… something else, quieter and more tender, muffled by her arm. To his frustration, she was silent after that, aside from the angry weeping.

"Hey Jess... did ya sleep well last night?" he asked, nonchalantly, a hint of mischief creeping into his voice.

She stopped her cries and rolled over, squinting up at him suspiciously, "why are you so interested in my nightly routine today, hmm?"

"Oh...no reason... none at all..." Meowth dismissed, backing out before it was too late. Jessie glared at him sourly, until her face seemed to start crumpling sadly again. She sighed and rolled over again, hugging herself.

At loss, Meowth sat down, resting his warm back against Jessie’s legs in an attempt to comfort her. She said nothing about it, but he was sure she would be secretly grateful. He’d seen her hug James, and vice versa, countless times for the same reason. Jessie let out a few more quiet sobs to herself. Meowth simply remained comfortable and swiped at the leaves that fluttered past him, tearing through them, his eyes large. He was contemplating a nap when something caught his attention. There was a familiar trio of twerps peering at them from only a few meters away.

“Oooh boy, here we go…”

Jessie sat up; her mascara smudged all over her face. He tactfully remained silent on that matter. “What?” she asked moodily, sniffling.

Meowth sighed, knowing full well she’d notice soon enough. It took exactly zero point five seconds before she exclaimed, “TWERPS!”

“TEAM ROCKET!” they shouted back. The twerp with the pikachu had already assumed his fighting stance, pushing the rim of his cap back. “You can’t fool us by hiding on the floor!” he shouted, whilst his red-headed friend simply face-palmed beside him.

Jessie crossed her arms indignantly, “for your information, we weren’t trying to fool you at all! The world doesn’t revolve around you, you know!”

“You… weren’t?” Ash said, sounding genuinely confused. “Oh, I just thought since you were wearing that black war paint and everything...”

Meowth shook his head vigorously, signalling for the twerp to cut it out, but it was too late. Jessie turned to him, her fists clenched, the fires of hell back in her eyes.

“WHAT IS HE TALKING ABOUT MEOWTH?!”

“Heh… well… youse got a bit of dat eye makeup of yours down ya cheeks…” Meowth confessed.

“WHAT!? WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL ME!?” she shouted, rubbing vigorously at her face with the crook of her arm.

“I’m sorry!” he cried, “I t’ought you didn’t want me ta mention anythin’ about da fact you were obviously cryin!”

“Wait…” Misty said, surprising everyone with the softness of her voice. “You were crying?” She asked, tilting her head. An awkward silence followed as Jessie glowered angrily at Meowth again, her cheeks turning red. She soon directed her glare to the twerps.

“I don’t cry!” she snapped.

“She does look pretty sad…” Brock pointed out.

“NO, I DON’T!”

“It _would _explain why she was lying on the floor in the middle of the forest…” Misty said.

“THIS IS NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS!” Jessie shouted.

“Welp, she’s right, let’s just go now before she decides to steal my pikachu…” Ash said nervously. He’d already been trying to get away from the weirdness of the situation, shrinking back awkwardly behind his friends. They ignored him entirely.

“Don’t you usually have James with you?” Misty continued, and Jessie pouted ever so slightly.

“Yeah, is he alright? We saw him get carried off by a bunch of Pidgeot earlier…” Brock added.

“Hah! I’m not falling for your lies!” Jessie countered proudly, sharply turning her head away. When no one confirmed her suspicious, she swiftly turned back to them, eyeing their serious expressions.

“PIDEGOT!?” she shouted, springing to her feet immediately and advancing on the twerps. Meowth yelped as he fell flat on his back, her legs having been pulled out from behind him far too quickly.

“PIDGEOT!?” she repeated.

“Uhhh yes, wild pidgeot, m-miss Rocket, m-ma’am…” Brock said, now looking a little scared as he and Misty joined Ash in his gradual backing away. Jessie stared at them ferociously, then suddenly went to lift Meowth by the scuff of his neck, rattling him as he swung his legs desperately. Her blue eyes were burning holes into his fur, as was the intensity of her gaze.

“This is no time for a nap Meowth!” she barked. “If he is killed, the motto is ruined! Hurry now and lead the way!” she commanded, shaking him as if he were a money box.

“I don’t know da way!” Meowth cried, struggling against her hold.

“Wobbuffet!” cried the blue blob as he let himself out of his Pokéball, clearly not sensing the dire nature of the situation once again.

This seemed to only frustrate Jessie further, if flinging Meowth down against a tree stump was anything to go by. She screeched at the other pokémon for letting himself out, then began having ago at him for doing the same earlier on, venting her emotions out on the clueless wobbuffet, his soft cries expressing his innocent confusion. Meowth quietly regretted speaking up, the fresh pain throbbing in his skull.

A moment later, he was pulled upright by gentler hands. He looked up to see the blue eyes of the twerpette looking down at him. “She seems pretty worried,” Misty said, as Brock stuck something on Meowth’s head and patted him. He lifted his paws to find a plaster. They were… helping him?

Meowth nodded in response, bemused. “Yeah, her an’ Jimmy had a pretty bad fight an’ he ran away, and then she wouldn’t stop cryin’…”

“What were they arguing about Meowth?” Misty asked, now sounding a tad mischievous. “If you tell us _all_ the details, we might tell you where we saw James.”

Meowth scratched his head, “I tink he was askin’ her why she was mad at him and then it just kinda got worse from dere.”

“Ahhh,” said Brock knowingly. “A lover’s quarrel!”

“What?!” Ash exclaimed, horrified.

“I never thought of them that way…” Misty mused. “It would make sense.”

“WHAT?!” Ash exclaimed again and was, unsurprisingly, wacked on the head by a paper fan.

“Ash be quiet you wouldn’t understand!” Misty cried.

“Hmmmm…” Brock hummed pensively, commanding attention. They all turned to him. He had his chin in his hand, seeming as if he was seriously contemplating something, “as much as I hate to traumatise you Ash, I do think this is a classic love bird scenario. Obviously, Jessie had a startling realisation about her true feelings for James, and from what I’ve seen of her, I believe she got incredibly angry. James was heartbroken, believing they were never meant to be, and he ran away never to be seen again, for it was too much for him to bear-- to see his true love turn him away so cruelly! It is a pain like no other, gah!” Brock shook his head, various women from his past suddenly floating around his memories.

“I digress… this is not about me. You see, now that he’s left her behind, Jessie regrets her actions, and she is afraid he is in danger. She realises how much she needs her partner! It is the tragic tale of two estranged lovers!” Brock finished with conviction, dramatic tears streaming down his face as he clenched his fist.

Ash, Meowth and Misty simply stared at him, dumbstruck.

“Wow Brock… how’d ya get all of that and make it sound… coherent?” Misty said, slightly amazed.

“Yeah… I would’a nevah figured all dat out by myself.” Meowth agreed.

“Okay… but this is still _super_ weird!” Ash complained, crossing his arms. “These are my stalkers we’re talking about! I wanna go home!”

Meanwhile, Wobbuffet’s clueless grin was finally getting to Jessie, her scolding becoming petty and half-hearted. The blue blob simply stared at her patiently, as was his nature. She sighed and quietly returned Wobbuffet to his pokeball. Her anger was reignited however, when she turned to find the twerps huddling around Meowth as if they were part of some kind of conspiracy. This blatant rudeness, combined with fact she had recently had reason to believe Meowth _did_ somehow know about her dream, led Jessie to immediately storm towards them.

“What are you all muttering about?!” she snapped, causing them all to yell out dramatically in fear. The main twerp appeared to look rather haunted. “Whatever, I don’t have time for this childish nonsense! Meowth, we have to go!” she growled, yanking the cat by his paw and dragging him away with her.

“BYE!” the twerps shouted.

“YEAH WE’LL BE BACK FOR THE RAT LATER!”

\--

_One hour later…_

Jessie and a very tired Meowth were still looking for James. They’d given up on using the balloon, the tree’s being too dense to really see though, and they were now plodding wearily through the forest. The Pidgeot swarm was nowhere to be seen, but as for Jessie’s crankiness, well that was still going strong.

“Meowth, you have clearly sent us the wrong way!” she accused from beside the sulking cat. She had stopped weeping, at least. Meowth wasn’t sure what was worse at this point, the weeping or the shouting.

“I swear dem kids said it was dis way, don’t blame me! You’re da reason he ran off in da first place!” he complained.

Jessie growled in response, angrily kicking up a pile of leaves and scaring away a resting Swinub, of which she completely disregarded. Meowth had pushed a button there. To be fair on him, she had a lot of those, so it wasn’t too difficult to aggravate her, especially on a day like today.

“Maybe we should take a rest… ya seem pretty worked up,” Meowth said delicately. His friend showed no indication of doing such a thing however, her rock solid determination virtually impossible to break at this point. Yet, no matter how worried she appeared to be, Jessie still refused to be weak. 

“Urgh, why is it _my_ fault James is such a dramatic little baby!” she complained. “If we find him pecked to death or something equally despairing, I will kill him!”

Despite her angry tone, the idea of such a fate simply caused Jessie further unrest as the muscles in her face twitched violently. She saw Meowth grimace himself, silently agreeing with her. God, this was giving her a migraine now. 

But if James where really to die, she wasn’t sure what she would do. The words she really wanted to say would not spill out, they caught in her throat and weighed on her chest.

“Uh, Jessie…” Meowth said after a moment, but he was simply ignored.

“He’s just _so_ stupid.” Jessie continued on, to herself. “When I said go away, I didn’t mean like this! If he’s acting weird just because he thinks I am going to pity him I swear…”

“Hey, Jess. Jess.”

“I honestly don’t know what I did to deserve such idiotic teammates. I am beautiful and talented and smart… _I_ should be the one being sought after! Instead, I am trekking through the dark woods for a fool.”

“Helloooo!”

“But alas, I suppose good company is hard to come by… I am but a precious jewel in a harsh, unforgiving world,” she sighed, staring off into the distance.

“Listen to me, ya self-absorbed drama queen!” Meowth exclaimed, leaping up and swiping her straight across the face. She blinked rapidly in pure astonishment; her mouth agape. The silence gave him opportunity to speak, at the cost of potential future murder that is. He’d done the calculations.

“Do you happen to recognise dat sad sight over dere, on your right?” Meowth said calmly, but not without taking several steps away from her - just in case.

Jessie growled quietly as she glanced over her shoulder, but her anger soon evaporated with a gasp, her hard expression finally melting. Looking in the direction the pokémon had gestured, she spotted a lonely figure huddled into himself.

He had his head in his arms, sat up against an oak tree. The sight of his lavender hair caused her to quiver with emotion which she could barely contain. In truth, she had never been so glad to see someone in her entire life, and the relief of it nearly knocked her off her feet. Bright sunlight filtered down between the leaves above, casting light on his dirty and torn uniform. He held his rose in one hand - no doubt having been dramatically soliloquising to himself about the whole ordeal.

_“James!”_ she gasped, wasting no time to run over and kneel by his side. She threw her arms around him in a hug, internally scolding herself for the pain she had caused.

James lifted his head mournfully from his knees. The sudden contact and the sound of her voice was a pleasant surprise, but he remained fearfully stiff. It seemed as if he was unable to fully react. Having been diverted from his path and literally dropped from the sky, he had convinced himself he would never see Jessie again, believing she would think he had completely abandoned her, not even bothering to look for him. Now, here she was, filling his senses with her over-powering presence. Her perfume was a wonderfully smothering atmosphere. If he could see her eyes, he knew they would drown him just as fiercely. What else had he said in his soliloquy…

“Jess...” he murmured hoarsely, his voice worn from crying in anguish, and then screaming in terror. He held a pokéball up in front of him, of which she regarded with confusion.

“I… nearly caught us a pidgeot.”

“Oh, _shut up!_” she gasped, tears filling her eyes again. “If you _ever_ do that to me again, there will be no mercy! Do you understand me? I will _not_ tolerate being left like that! _How dare you!_”

Her words, although harsh, carried tenderness (if one really squinted, and luckily James was an expert at reading between her lines.) She gripped him closer to herself as she ranted on, pressing her head against his affectionately. James uncurled his arms from around his legs in a dazed manner and hugged her tight in return, the gesture causing them both to begin sobbing loudly, great rivets flowing from their eyes.

“I’m sorryyyyy!” they both wailed simultaneously.

“Please, do-oh-on’t leave me!” Jessie sobbed, clutching at the back of James’ shirt as he buried his face into her neck. They became one shaking ball of dramatic wails, hanging onto each other for dear life.

The third member of the trio watched this bizarre display from a few paces away, leaning casually against a rock. He yawned widely. Yes, it was a nice reunion between two people who cared deeply for one another, but he had been listening to sobbing and shrieking for the past _hour_. It was getting _really _old. Meowth was completely exhausted. Still, he had to wipe a tear of his own away – even if he was only partially paying attention at this point.

James pulled back a little to gaze at Jessie, his expression deadly serious.

“I will never leave you, even if we are apart, you have me,” he told her earnestly, tucking his rose away and taking her hands to clasp them both tightly in his own. His words took her by surprise… it sounded as if he’d thought this before and believed in it ardently.

“I’d probably do anything for you,” James mumbled quietly, seeming quite embarrassed about it. “Even if it involves leaving you alone forever…”

Her heart did a strange leap in her chest when he said this. Jessie swallowed, trying to quell the surge of emotion it brought.

“You’re _mumbling_ again!” she complained, annoyed at her blushing. “God James, if you’re going to sweet-talk me, at least do it clearly!”

He smiled sheepishly at her, and one word crossed her mind; _adorable_. She hardly had the strength to ignore it this time, not when he was starting to wax poetic at her, which she should have expected really. He always did that.

She had realised her confidence in him not leaving her earlier had been completely non-existent. Jessie _feared_ being left. She hated being vulnerable to the fact someone could leave her again, and by stubbornly insisting that James would never go, she had driven herself to snap at him to leave… he’d simply done exactly what she asked of him. It wasn’t abandonment but… _respect?_

The affection she felt was too large for her to supress all of a sudden, but of course, Jessie could do it. Somehow, she managed to remain herself. Perfectly dignified.

“I knew you weren’t immune to my charms; I am irresistible. Why would _you_ leave _me_?” she said smugly as she fluttered her lashes, winking at him. James’ face softened at the sight, and he chuckled quietly.

“Of course, dear Jessie,” he murmured. “That is extremely true.”

Her heart did its leap again. Was this going to happen all day? What a drag. All he had said is that he would do anything for her and agreed that she was irresistible, whilst holding her hands and gazing deeply into her eyes. This was nothing new. She was just out of breath from the crying.

By his rock, Meowth’s jaw had dropped wide open again. The truth had finally clicked. The various clues from his (obviously amazing) detective work locked into place. He shook his head, unable to fully believe his eyes. Jessie and James were staring at each other so intensely they seemed to have forgotten his existence. He reckoned they might have a thing for one another after today, but this? This was no simple crush. This looked like full-blown adoration.

_Oh my god… dis makes so much sense now. Brock… was right?! Jessie must’a realised her feelings for jimmy! Of course, she just had to hava breakdown about it first and make it my problem. I’m gonna need a nap before dealing with dem two any longer. Dey really are dimwits. _And with that thought, Meowth crawled onto the rock beside him and curled up to sleep, plotting to mess with them when they finally figured it out for themselves (in about twenty years maybe). It was very considerate of him.

Jessie and James were none the wiser, still absorbed by each other. The wind whistled gently through the trees above them, their voices but tiny crickets in a large world. As it where, Jessie was internally screaming, and James was gripped with the impulse to tell her everything he’d ever thought.

“Please forgive me Jess, I didn’t mean to provoke you earlier, I was just worried about you,” he confessed; his whining now replaced with tenderness and desperation. “I only left because I thought you wanted me to go, don’t think I don’t care, of course I do, honestly I don’t know what I’d do without you, you mean so much to me-“

“James, James, James!” Jessie shushed him. He was starting to get hysterical again, and this was becoming far too intense for her to handle. Why was he even saying all of this?

“Stop it, earlier was…” she seemed to be struggling. “It was my fault! Yes, I am exceptionally good-looking and extremely intelligent, but even I am prone to my faults,” she admitted, still staring into his eyes, irises illuminated bright green in the sun light. From the way he was treating her, she knew _he _had already forgiven her. He was acting as if she might disappear at any moment, grasping at her hands and drinking in her face. Perhaps he’d had the same dream.

Jessie shivered, pushing the thought away. Course not… why would James be dreaming of her like that? He was just being regular old James. Still, the idea remained lingering in the back of her mind as if to taunt her, reminding her she was the one in a mess here, not him. How she felt would not vanish, despite her efforts.

“I understand why you’d hate me, nonetheless.” James suddenly chuckled, and It hurt. It reminded her of what Meowth had told her about him just after he’d run off. So, it was true, she had upset him enough to shatter his self-esteem. That was probably another reason he didn’t love her back.

_What?_

“Don’t be absurd. I don’t hate _you_ James,” she said, holding his gaze to make sure he believed her. His expression of helpless surprise cut straight through her. How many times had he thought this was the case? How could she let him believe it was the case?

“I don’t hate you either, Jess,” he answered sincerely. “Not one bit.”

“James…” Jessie whispered, feeling her defences start to crack again. She might’ve even let them, if it weren’t for what he pointed out next.

“You were upset, weren’t you?” he said quietly. “I heard you yell for me.”

“Y-you-you _did_?!” she spluttered, going bright red as she suddenly recalled her wailing. She was about to claim that it definitely wasn’t her, when James beamed as if he couldn’t physically help himself. Jessie slowly became more enraged.

“Yes, dear,” James replied. His thumb stroked the hand he still held, and like a flareon… she flared.

“IF YOU HEARD ME THEN WHY DID YOU JUST LEAVE?! WHY DID YOU JUST… _ABADON_ ME!” she screeched, baring her teeth at him and curling a fist around his collar. James grimaced, yet did not let go of her hand, hoping he could calm her down somehow … perhaps he was a complete masochist, or just an idiot. There seemed to be a grey area.

“I’m- I’m sorry Jessie! I was going to come back, but then I was chased by a hoard of pidgeot!” he cried, waving the (quite empty) pokéball in front of her again. Jessie glanced at the pokéball, then back to his apologetic face, and relaxed her grip, huffing.

“Fine, okay, so you were busy,” she huffed again, as if he had willingly _chosen_ the pokémon over her. Despite her irritated look, her fingers locked with his, assuring him she was more hurt than truly angry with him. He softened with relief.

“Jessie, I was running for my _life_.”

“You could’ve run for your life in my direction! I was not responsible for the pidgeot!” she pointed out.

“Well they did appear right after you screamed…” James mused, “and they are known to attack out of fear…”

Jessie gave him a look for that, “what are you saying?!”

“…A coincidence…?”

“Yes, exactly, a mere coincidence! Surely you have more important things to think of in your life, James, like listening to your teammate when they call your name and responding _promptly_!”

“Of course. I shall teleport to your side next time, your highness,” he said rather sarcastically.

Jessie scoffed, “If this is the type of service you’d give to royalty, then that explains a lot!”

“Oh, _I’m sorry, _I didn’t realise I was your servant?”

“Well, what else am I gonna get? A prince? A knight in shining armour?” She laughed bitterly. “Not likely.”

“Ah, that’s where you’re wrong, milady,” James teased, his voice mocking formality. He lifted her hand to his mouth in order to lightly kiss her knuckles, lingering long enough to make her feel as if she might suffocate again. Despite the fact she knew it was innocent and silly, and that she could hardly feel it through her glove, the action caused her to flush from ear to ear.

That seemed to be enough to break the weakening wall, to take the first step up the shaky tree.

“I had a dream last night,” she said suddenly, without thinking, just staring at him hotly. James sensed the shift in mood and stared back at her, and for a moment there was just that: a dream, floating between them, though James couldn’t possibly _know_ what it was.

“Oh?” he said. “Well, that’s… great?”

Because James was still holding her hand, Jessie restrained herself from lashing out and forced her tone to be softer, although the edge of irritation still lingered. He honestly made it too easy for her to hit him as many times as she did.

“Don’t you want to know what it was about?” she asked impatiently.

James seemed confused. “Do you want to me to know?”

“…Yes. Yes, I do,” Jessie admitted. Even though he could be frustratingly dense at times, Jessie had to admit, it was sweet of him to ask her… albeit rather embarrassing to bare herself so openly when he asked questions like this. Yet, she was willing to, after today’s painful event.

“Okay!” James said merrily, obviously not realising just how interesting Jessie’s dream had been. _What am I doing? How will I ever explain this to him?_ looking at his joyful face, Jessie suddenly felt herself begin to sweat. There was no going back now. It was out there. There’d been _a dream._

“What did you dream about, Jessie?” James asked innocently. Far too innocently. He was basically glowing with innocence. Surely… surely, he couldn’t be that oblivious? “I wanna know!” he said, clutching her hand closer to him and smiling sweetly. Yes, she supposed he did want to know now that she’d caught his attention and ignited his curiosity.

Jessie looked at James and clutched his hand in return. Her heart was beating a little too fast, making her want to squirm. Her limbs were already shaking again. Oh, why did emotions have to be so _inconvenient_?

“Jess, you’re hurting me…” James squeaked, lifting their tightly knotted hands to show that hers was significantly crushing his. He offered a strained smile. “I-I thought you were going to tell me about your dream.”

She released her grip, muttering a quick, almost inaudible word which may have been ‘sorry’. James moved to grab her hand back again, gently, and she let him, too pre-occupied to be without this reassurance. They stared at each other again, and a moment of awkward silence passed. Jessie shifted her gaze over his shoulder to stare at the swaying blades of grass beyond their small circle of dirt, hypnotised by their movement.

“OH MY GOD JAMES, JUST ASK ME WHAT HAPPENED IN IT,” she erupted, annoyed at her own inability to bring it up again.

“I already did! _You_ just crushed my hand instead!” he whined. A wack of a fan came shortly after.

“ASK ME AGAIN!”

“Jessieee please, this is so stupid just tell me-“

“ASK. ME!”

James stared at his partners flushed cheeks, suddenly becoming very quiet and patient with her. He could see something about this dream was getting to her, so he took her other hand and held that too, aware of her burning gaze on him. The deep blue was ablaze and seemingly on a _verge._

“What happened in your dream, then?” he asked, a little exasperated. Except now, when his eyes met hers, Jessie felt as if he had noticed something in them. She wasn’t completely sure if she felt frightened or excited by that prospect. 

“It was… just a normal day.”

“Mhm?” James hummed, gently encouraging her. A sudden affectionate warmth begun to spread in her chest. Her heart would not slow down… it was maddingly addictive. This was _James_, and yet, she didn’t seem to be calming down anytime soon.

“Except there was no one else around…” she continued.

“No one?” he said inquisitively.

“Nope.”

“Oh, well. It’s nice to get the chance to be alone I imagine.” James said, sounding just a tad disappointed. Jessie repressed the urge to _grin._

“That is, only me and…”

His interest piqued again. “And…?”

She shifted an inch, or two, closer. Now James was the one going red, and it made her want to smile wickedly seeing that the shoe was on the other foot. But she was also blushing, and couldn’t really breathe, so perhaps they were both losing the game - as usual. This one didn’t seem like such a bad loss.

“You,” Jessie finished the sentence, watching as her breathy words made his dear face go redder. “It was just me and you. Jessie and James. No one else in the whole wide world.”

In response, James squeaked some garbled gibberish, which was just about right. She eyed the small smile on his lips – of which he was failing to fight off. He composed himself enough to speak sense, her growing smirk having compelled him to clear his throat numerous times.

“So, no protecting it from… devastation…”

His hands had come apart from hers and begun ghosting along her back. She nestled her own on his chest, where she revelled in the fact that _his _heart was thumping madly too, the rise and fall of their shoulders almost synchronised. This felt as if it where lasting for an eternity, and neither of them appeared to mind. 

“I suppose not,” she replied.

“Well then… what did we do instead?” he asked, with poorly faked breeziness, his eagerness showing despite his efforts to mask it. They both blushed heavily. He’d sent Jessie reeling, suspecting that he was trying to hide something he felt for her. The way he was looking at her, everything he’d been saying… oh she knew this. How could she be so _dumb? _

It _was_ mutual.

“Well...” Jessie began, suddenly grinning, wanting to hook him in for as long as humanly possible. The expression on his face was something between awe and longing and it was just too precious to lose yet, not when she felt so validated and glorious to be the subject of such a _look… _and from him. It caused her to fall silent for a moment, studying his face. She still had no clue if this was really a good idea. They had been best friends forever, and part of her worried the look was too risqué. Maybe she shouldn’t tell him this.

Then quietly, James’ hands rested against the small of her back. Protective, reassuring, just like always. The small action set her heart alight with a painful tenderness. Jessie now had no reason to doubt this startling feeling she felt, but she still couldn’t _say_ what she’d dreamt. Perhaps there were other means of conveying the message… now that she noticed he had been staring at her lips, for how long?

“James… have you ever been kissed before?” she asked nonchalantly, sliding her hands up onto his shoulders.

James was clearly distracted, and her sudden boldness caused him to blush again, his eyes snapping back to hers in panic.

“Well I- not really, no, why-why-why would you ask that!” he squeaked, sounding quite defensive.

“I don’t know!” she shot back, automatically gearing for an argument. _What the hell?_ She shook her head to clear it. A mistake really, for it only made her feel dizzier.

They were staring at each other again, noses hovering inches apart, that damn sunlight bathing them. Now the idea which passed between them was no longer a distant dream, but far realer. It was a kiss. A kiss was only a breath away, and _surely_, nothing could stop them from realising this. Jessie’s heart was going so fast it might as well have stopped. The use of words seemed completely inadequate at this point.

James decided to pipe up and break the silence, anyway.

“So uh, did you kiss someone in your dream-“ he started to ask, before he was cut off with the rather abrupt answer of Jessie lunging forward and grabbing his collar.

“Yes, you_ idiot, _it was_ you,” _she growled.

_“oh,”_

Within seconds their lips met, all awkwardness flying out the window. James immediately began kissing her back with such force she could barely tell who was doing the most work, which was a shock. It was making her feel a little senseless. This seemed to come rather naturally, apparently. Or perhaps it was just the idea of kissing one another that felt natural.

Neither had a clue how they could both want this. It was happening, nonetheless.

In a moment, his hands had moved to grip her back more firmly, pulling her against him and into his lap. Jessie made a soft sound of surprise and flung her arms around his neck as he dipped her, burying her hands into his hair. She exhaled shakily, boldly running her tongue along his lips. When James opened his mouth and jammed his tongue into _her_ mouth, she _knew_ she’d been waiting for this all day. He wasn’t supposed to be _this _good at kissing her, but as they sunk into each other’s embrace the kiss only deepened, and sheer bliss took over any rational thought.

The sound of a wanton moan ripping from Jessie’s throat a moment later shocked them both, and they froze. With that, the two seemed to fully realise what they were doing, and with _whom_, their eyes flying open in alarm.

They pulled apart slowly, dazed and embarrassed. James stared at Jessie. She stared back. It was all slightly unnerving, this silent anticipation. His lavender hair was dishevelled by her fingers, his mouth stained with her cherry red lipstick. He was claimed, completely in awe of her existence obviously, but the idea of kissing _her_ would be too much for his tiny brain to comprehend.

Any moment now, Jessie expected him to shriek in horror, to babble in his usual panicked manner. He would remove his arms from around her and drop her to the floor.

_Fine, then. I’ll do it first._

“What the hell was that about!?“ Jessie hissed, her voice shaking slightly— to her annoyance.

Despite her inner dialogue, she found herself unable to move, his intense gaze locking her in place. James was silent, his expression almost blank as he continued to stare at her.

“Whatever, fine, don’t say anything. Let’s just forget about this,” she said coldly, lowering her eyes and starting to pull away from James, consequently failing to see her partners reaction. She only felt his hand softly caress her face, freezing her in place. Suddenly, he lifted her chin, turning her back to him. Jessie didn’t have to strength to form words anymore. She could only gawp shamelessly as James leant forward and pressed his lips back to hers. She did not expect_ that_, for him to pull her closer more tenderly than she’d never been treated in her life, for herself to melt as he coaxed her lips open again with his own.

He kissed her with a newfound confidence, as if there was something to prove. She remained unmoving for a moment, drowning in velvet rose petals - just as she would’ve imagined from James. Jessie could not help the tears that surfaced briefly beneath her eyelids as his soft lips emptied her mind of fear. The sheer emotion overwhelmed her, and she returned his kiss, sighing.

Too soon, James pulled away to gaze at her sweetly, resting his forehead against hers. She blushed ferociously.

“I don’t _want_ to forget about this,” he whispered, green eyes shimmering. “It’s been long enough already. I don’t want to go another day without kissing you. I swear—” his passionate speech faltered at the lust-filled look his partner was now shooting him. It was such a helpless expression that he found it hard to believe it truly was coming from her.

His words had set a sudden fire off within her, and she lunged at him, her forcefulness knocking him backwards, their lips connecting once more in a desperate kiss. They were engulfed by a carpet of long grass, the same swaying blades which Jessie had stared at on the verge of _this,_ tumbling over an imagined line into sweet oblivion. James shuddered in her arms. Some force had overcome him too. Their legs were a tangle, their cheeks burning as their tongues entwined.

The break for air came after several minutes of shamelessly making out, both of them panting hard in wide-eyed awe at the sudden turn in tempo. James gazed at Jessie as if he couldn’t quite believe her, and she began to smirk uncontrollably at him, sultry and giddy, the sight of her compelling him to start pressing kisses against her jaw line in an achingly sweet manner. Jessie decided to say her one coherent thought aloud, when she could stop whimpering that is.

“T-to extend… our… reach…mhhm,” was all she managed to get out before James put his mouth on hers again, his fingers moving with feather-like gentleness along her exposed midriff. She placed a hand on his shoulder, trying to outmatch him with vigour, but it was too short and sweet. He moved his lips away before she could even get a proper handle on them.

“To the stars above…” he replied, flashing her a charming smile. That was just about _it_ for Jessie.

“Oh _James…_” she moaned loudly, throwing her head back. His lips pressed against her neck.

“_Jessie…” _he moaned feverously in return, practically worshipping her name.

James knew she was no delicate flower, that she was built from passion and determined grit, yet he was treating her as if she were the most precious, fragile thing on earth. Inevitably, Jessie’s mind began to wander to what else he could worship, _with his lips…_

She knew exactly what she wanted. She wanted was his skin pressed against every inch of her own. She wanted his hands all over her, loving her, caressing her. It was startling how suddenly she’d begun to think like this about James, but through the haze she was aware that, unlike in her dream, they were not the only two people in the world. They were in a forest, where anyone could walk by.

“I guess we probably shouldn’t be doing this,” she stated.

James tensed at her words, the hot kisses he’d been planting on her neck ceasing. For a moment she feared he’d taken it to mean she didn’t want to be doing it, and that whatever was happening would disappear tomorrow, gone with unfeeling coolness. But he made no effort to move away.

“Probably not…” he replied after a moment.

“We should go catch some Pokémon, or something. Commit evil deeds,” she said, making no effort to get up either.

“Yes, you’re right,” he said. Then, after they both once again failed to carry out this simple action, he told her softly, helplessly: “you are so _beautiful_,” and kissed her on the cheek.

“James,” she said, somewhere between a demand and a whimper.

“Truly exquisite...”

“James…”

“_Breath-takingly gorgeous_.”

“_James!”_ she cried out, sounding more like another moan than a reprimand.

“Should we be going?” he asked, staring at her, completely enamoured by her. Instead of replying that_ yes, yes, we should be going, and never speak of this again, _his expression only ignited a reaction from her that could not be more opposite.

“_I want you_,” she admitted in an intense whisper

“J-Jessie?” James stuttered, utterly scandalised yet still making absolutely no move to leave the situation.

“Well I mean… we might as well...”

“I’m sure we can’t just do that!” he exclaimed. “Wait do… do you really want that… from me?”

“James, honestly, _yes_,” she breathed. “We’re team rocket. We can do whatever we want!”

No sooner as the words had left her lips, James had already managed to remove both his gloves and pull her closer, placing his hand on her inner thigh, the pads of his fingers pressing into the softness there and driving her _wild. _Jessie began peppering kisses all over his face, grasping onto his hair desperately. He ran a hand gently up her thigh, grazing past the hem of her mini skirt, his touch contrasting sharply with her roughness. His other hand shyly nudged its way under her tank top, the tenderness seeming to seep from his fingertips, a consistency like silk flooding through her. Jessie sighed and pushed her hips up against him, causing them both to moan softly in unison.

“Make it… double?” he pointed out breathlessly, and she wanted to slap him for being so cheesy (_like she was_) yet at the same time, lose her mind to how much it was somehow turning her on. The effect of it was insane. Oh god, was she ever going to be able to say that motto again without thinking of this?

“Did I reach your dream expectations dear?” James teased, studying her expression.

“Oh honey, you exceeded them.” Jessie purred. She gripped his shoulders with trembling fingers, watching as a fierce blush claimed him, and smiled wickedly at last. James then proceeded to pull her into another maddening kiss, pouring copious amounts of want into her, and she melted with bliss.

“Jessie…” he murmured reverently against her lips. “I love-“

His confession was cut off by the sounds of dangerously close voices.

\--

“It’s a Meowth!” a young trainer exclaimed giddily, her voice only a short distance away, scattered into an echo by the wind. Sounds of amazement which could only come from peppy pokémon trainers followed suite.

Somehow, not one member of this overly optimistic group of trainers had spotted the two Rockets getting a little too close for comfort in the grass nearby. But then again, they seemed pretty amazed by Meowth, and the grass _was _rather long.

Jessie and James had frantically pulled apart, rising from the floor and pulling at their dishevelled uniforms in an attempt to erase the evidence of their recent activities. At the sound of yet another sickeningly sweet twerpy voice, Jessie took James’ hand and laced her fingers through his, urging him to move along. Luckily the awkwardness of being near another brand of the twerp line had managed to ruin the mood, and James was no longer showing such a blatant desire in his nether regions. He simply pointed frantically at his discarded gloves, and Jessie rolled her eyes, gesturing for him to hurry up and put them back on. She couldn’t believe _that_ was the only item of clothing discarded. Jessie was mentally vowing revenge against every single trainer in their vicinity.

“What da…?” they heard a familiar voice exclaim in confusion. “Who are you people? Where are Jessie and James?!”

“It…can talk…?” said another trainer in awe.

“Woahhhhh!” the group, whom they were simply imagining as a bunch of Twerp look-a-likes, said simultaneously.

_Oh no, Meowth, shut your big meowth_! Jessie and James both thought as they crawled out of sight, falling over occasionally (mainly on James’ behalf) and landing in a heap of tangled limbs. This did not help the tension between them at all. Perhaps it would be easier without holding hands… or if Jessie just stopped shoving James out the way, whilst they continued to hold hands.

“I’m gonna catch that talking Meowth!” the original girl twerp cried. Unsurprisingly, a chorus of others began to exclaim that no, actually, _they, individually,_ would be the one catching the talking Meowth.

Meowth couldn’t believe his ears! One minute he’d been sleeping soundly and peacefully, finally free of those two bumbling idiots for a few sweet moments, and now… he was being ganged up on by a bunch-a ten-year olds?

The scratch-cat laughed with extreme nervousness. “No, sorry, I ain’t up for grabs Kids!” he said, waving his paws. “I mean it, please go home.”

His protesting didn’t seem to work on the somewhat creepy twerps now ganging up on him. The majority were looking as if they should be holding up _hatchets_ instead of Pokéballs. They addressed him just as menacingly.

“Come here kitty kitty, you’re mine now!”

“No, you will be mine!”

“Hey, quit shoving! I saw him first!!”

“AhhhhhhhhHHHHHH! JESSIE, JAMES, WHERE ARE YOU TWO?!” Meowth cried out as an inevitable fight broke out.

Meowth shielded his head with his arms in a futile attempt to block the advancement, quivering as he stood atop his once serene rock. Now it was the stage of terror and misfortune. In the fear, he seemed to have forgotten he had attack-moves that could send them all clutching their faces in agony whilst he made his clean getaway. There just seemed to be too many of them! Were they multiplying?

_I’m gonna die here_, Meowth thought rather dramatically. But then again, he _is_ part of Team Rocket. Dramatic flair was part of their speciality.

“PREPARE FOR TROUBLE!” A familiar wicked female voice rang out. Meowth never thought he’d be so happy to hear that dumb motto.

Everyone fell silent. There was only the wind in the trees and a nearby trickling stream... oh, and the dramatic music that always seemed to be coming from nowhere, but, whatever. He looked up to see the twerp gang now staring behind him with expressions of pure confusion.

Meowth grinned, turning around to see Jessie looking glowing and confident with her hands on her hips, ready to save him. Hurray, he would live to see another day!

“And…!” rang out a silky male voice, followed by absolutely nothing.

James had now also appeared; however, he didn’t seem to be able to say his line. Instead, he and Jessie were simply staring at one another and _blushing_. Profusely.

_What on earth are youse two doing now?! _Meowth thought with immense frustration. His LIFE was on the line here and they were just making goo-goo eyes at each other? like THIS was the moment they would decide to confess their painfully obvious love for one another?

Oh, it was too late for that, he realised. James had bright red lipstick smeared all over his love-struck face. _Dey didn’t even realise they might hav’ta wipe that off before comin’ out here?_ Meowth faced palmed silently. Even the twerp gang was unimpressed, and this is how he knew it was evident the two idiots (as Meowth would say) were completely outta their tiny minds.

“…’And’ what, you weirdos?” one of the trainers laughed.

“Who invited you two?” another said snobbishly.

There was a beat of silence, a cough, then someone yelled from the back, unseen in the crowd:

“Especially the old hag!”

_Uh-oh_, both James and Meowth thought.

“JAMES, DID YOU HEAR WHAT THAT TWERP JUST SAID ABOUT YOU!?” Jessie screeched, pointing at the offender somewhere in the sea of wide-eyed faces.

James awkwardly scratched the back of his head, a bead of sweat developing on his forehead. He did _not_ want to point out that the anonymous brat had said _hag_, and therefore, the insult could not be directed at him. James could be offered enamours amounts of compensation and he would still shrink from the notion of letting Jessie know this disastrous piece of information. He was a hag. End of.

“I, I sure did, Jess. I am just, so offended right now…” he put on his best distraught voice, weeping for dramatic effect. “How… how _could _they? My dignity has been demolished.” he cried, voice tearing. Ever so slightly enjoying himself.

“I know, I know,” Jessie cooed. “It’s okay James. You are still full of youth and glow. Don’t worry,” she told him reassuringly, patting him on the head more tenderly than required for show (he had felt the need to fall to his knees, too.)

James took this as an opportunity to look at her adoringly and say, “you too Jess.”

“James, what are you talking about? Obviously, I am shining with immortal beauty. Why are you telling me this?” she said, ignoring the way he held his arms out to her as if she would hug him for it. As she walked away, he dropped them in rejection, not really surprised. James watched as she turned back to the twerp gang.

_“_YOU CANNOT TALK TO MY FRIEND THAT WAY!” Jessie boomed, and although she was extremely misled, James couldn’t help but feel quite touched. If the insult _had_ been at him, she would be actually defending him right now. Against ten-year-olds, but… still…

“PREPARE FOR TROUBLE!” she announced, again, and she really meant it! Though, she always did.

James stood up, and since he wasn’t thinking too much about it, he added,

“AND MAKE IT DOUBLE!”

As the line rang out, they both remembered once again what they had been about to _do_, and their faces turned crimson. They couldn’t fail on the motto a second time though, no. Who would they be if they did that?

“To protect the world from devastation!” Jessie continued over loudly, sounding somewhat breathless. James pulled out his rose in a flustered manner.

“To unite all peoples within our nation!” he said, holding the flower to his face and glancing at Jessie. She was absolutely stunning in this light.

“To denounce of the evils of truth and… lo-ve!” she blurted out in a sing-song voice, glancing at James. What was that he was saying back there in the grass?

They stayed locked in a daze until James strode over, took her hand and twirled her around as she squeaked happily. He caught her before she fell, dipping her in his arms. It was like a planned routine and the thought was electrifying, as now they knew that this had always been them. This feeling had always been hiding somewhere between glances, and motto lines, and lingering touches.

“To extend our reach to the stars above…” James said lowly, his face dangerously close to Jessie’s. They seemed be forgetting they had an audience.

“Jessie…”

“James…”

Silence fell. The rest of their motto did not come. Jessie and James had instead launched themselves into a kiss, of which literally no one was prepared to see. The result was a myriad of reactions, which one may roughly divide, although no one knows why one would want to do that.

Most of the twerps screamed, “ewwwwwwwwwwwwww!”

Other twerps cooed, “awwwwwwwwwwwwww!”

And finally, Meowth exclaimed very loudly,

“WHAT DA HELL IS WRONG WITH YOUSE TWO? WE’RE IN DA MIDDLE OF A BATTLE! I DON’T WANNA SEE DIS!”

With the final echoes of Meowth’s screeching words, James and Jessie ended their heated kiss abruptly. They looked around awkwardly, clinging to each other as if that might make it any less embarrassing for them than it already was. Why did any of them even have to _be_ here? It had been so much nicer in that lovely patch of grass over by that tree.

“James, are we in a battle?” Jessie asked curiously, blinking.

“Apparently so my dear,” James replied. He didn’t really want to let her go, but since they were battling, or more accurately, about to, he really had no choice. Perhaps kissing with an audience was not such a good idea.

They sprung from their embrace to stand side by side, pointing at the crowd as if they still possessed all the confidence and pride from moments before. Mainly because they did.

“Team Rocket blast off at the speed of light!”

“Surrender now or prepare to fight!” James finished triumphantly, and he and Jessie high fived.

“Congratulations, youse two made it through ten lines of poetry with extreme difficulty,” Meowth said dryly. “Now, SAVE MEOWTH!” he cried in sheer outrage.

“Right!” they both exclaimed, pulling out their pokéballs and preparing to throw them, when they were, once again, rudely interrupted.

“Meowth is mine!” A boy suddenly claimed, appearing out of nowhere in a blur and standing in front of the rock valiantly. It appeared he’d been running from the look of his windswept hair and heaving chest.

Jessie laughed mockingly, throwing her head back. James stood behind her and stared dumbfounded as she did this, wondering if it was possible everything could start to move in slow motion, since that what was currently occurring. He’d constantly found this attractive for literally years, and for obvious reasons, today it was getting the better of him. He decided it was probably the kind of thing that happened when both the hottest person you know and the women you love decided to make out with you for the first time.

“That Meowth you’re so keen on getting belongs to _us_, twerp!” Jessie said, staring the child down.

But the boy didn’t seem to believe her. “This Meowth deserves better than you two thieves!” he claimed boldly, eliciting a gasp from the gathering behind him.

Jessie and James flinched back in shock.

“How… do you know that?” James said awkwardly.

“Because you’re Team Rocket! I remember you!” the boy said, continuing to accuse them with passion. He turned to his friends who were watching him in curious awe.

“Sorry I was late everyone, but these two are from Team Rocket, a criminal organisation based on stealing rare Pokémon!” he explained, causing more gasps and rousing murmuring amongst the crowd. Jessie and James really wished he would just stop talking.

“They are _bad_ people! And this Meowth doesn’t even belong to them, it just travels with them!”

“_Excuse us?!”_ Jessie and James sputtered.

“This Meowth may not have been the one who saved my life, but he was still willing to pretend he was that same Meowth to make me happy!” the brown haired ten-year-old announced.

Jessie and James did not understand. “_Who are you?!_” they spat in unison.

Meowth _did_ understand. He stared at the boy speechlessly. He couldn’t believe it… it was really him, and he’d just defended him in front of all of these people! But… Jessie and James were his friends, even if they were a pair of nutjobs.

“Timmy!” Meowth cried.

“_Timmy?!_” James and Jessie exclaimed.

Jessie burst into her wicked laughter again, oblivious to poor James’ reaction to it. He just stood there, staring straight on with a _very_ thoughtful expression.

“Oh James, how sweet, it’s that little boy from all those years ago!” She laughed. “Do you remember? He wanted to see Meowth because he thought he was a superhero, and so we made him think our Meowth was that Meowth!” she exclaimed finding the memory all too amusing.

“Oh yes Jess, I remember!” James said, his eyes lighting up with memory. They both laughed mockingly together. Timmy looked absolutely furious.

Meowth however, sensing the boy’s anger, did not laugh along. He bounced down and stood in front of Timmy, who kneeled down to his level with a serious expression. Meowth could see Timmy had grown up and become a determined and dedicated Pokémon trainer, his blue eyes full of emotion and horizons.

“Meowth.” He smiled. “It’s good to see you.”

“You too Timmy!” Meowth found himself saying, as he recalled that faithful day. Jessie and James were still howling like a hyena’s in the background. He knew this was a memory they didn’t remember the same way as he did, so Meowth didn’t blame them too badly for their inconsideration.

“Sorry about dem two,” Meowth said sheepishly. Dey are always like dat, but dey aren’t as bad once you get to know ‘em.”

Timmy was unconvinced, casting Jessie and James a scornful look. Jessie stuck her tongue out at him, and James pulled at the sides of his mouth, before they both collapsed into laughter again, leaning on one another as they shrieked. Timmy shook his head and looked away, turning his attention back to Meowth. He took the scratch-cat’s paw and spoke kindly to him.

“You don’t have to stay with them, Meowth. I know you’re just defending them because you think they’re like your trainers or because you feel a sense of loyalty towards them,” Timmy said. “But I know they don’t treat you with the love of a real Trainer, like me. I’d like to invite you to join me, if you want. You’d never have to be a low-life criminal again – we could become the new champions in the Pokémon League!” he said joyfully. “I need to beat Ash Ketchum!”

(“_James, stay still! You have lipstick all over your face! Stop squirming!”_)

Meowth thought about this… he’d never been a champion in his life, especially not over that Ash twerp and with him, Pikachu. And maybe Jessie and James weren’t the best people to be looked after by, especially considering how long it took them to realise their true feelings for one another.

Timmy’s words seemed to have a ring of truth to them which he couldn’t completely ignore and would probably always remember. But Meowth knew he couldn’t leave his best friends behind. They were a team, and they may be bad, but it was like Jessie had once said- bad didn’t mean they were insensitive.

“Look Timmy, dats very nice of you, but I can’t leave my pals,” Meowth said honestly. “They might seem a bit dumb, probably because dey are, but deep down they got love in dem. It was even their idea to pretend I was your Meowth! And dey do eventually look after me,” he said, turning to look at his teammates, who were now watching him with suspiciously wet eyes. He smiled at them, and they returned it with identical wobbly smiles.

“Just like dey always look after each other,” Meowth added, watching as the pair burst into tears and grabbed each other in a bear hug.

“Team Rocket never leaves anyone behind. Plus, these two would be nothing without me,” Meowth said, ignoring the beginnings of protest from the said duo.

“So dat’s why I can’t come with ya, Timmy. I’m sorry.”

_(“Hey!”) (“What does Meowth mean?!”) _

Timmy sighed. “That’s okay Meowth. But you will always have a place with me and my Meowth if you change your mind,” he said, raising to his full height and looking down at him.

_(“How are **we** nothing without **him**_?_”)_

“Thanks, buddy,” Meowth whispered, a little choked up. Timmy nodded, then turned back to his crowd of friends, stepping forward to stand on the rock. This had very quickly escalated into the lion king. The sun was shining at a lower angle than earlier, creating a rather dramatic effect.

_(“I don’t know James, we seemed pretty alright without him earlier.”)_

Meowth did his best to ignore Jessie and James, and now their giggling, with one feline eye twitching in annoyance. They seemed to have forgotten they were on the job.

“Meowth has chosen to stay with Team Rocket, for honest and kind-hearted reasons!” Timmy announced, and what a surprise, they all gasped. Then, they all fixed Meowth with adoring expressions, and Meowth looked back at them, never feeling more appreciated in his life. Some even took their caps off to him. He hadn’t done anything that amazing, and they _were_ only ten, but alright. He’d take it

_(“We were **more** than alright without him Jessie.”)_

“We must leave and find other wild Pokémon who are willing to be with us,” Timmy told his friends who, miraculously, all seemed to agree with little protest. Perhaps Timmy had established himself as a bit of a figure in this bizarrely large travelling group now? Meowth realised these may all be Timmy’s former classmates from Pokémon tech, and that’s why they were so awed by a simple Meowth. Meowth had met most of these trainers before, when they were in pre-school. The story must’ve been kept alive.

Timmy continued his speech happily, optimism in his tone. “That way we can become better Pokémon trainers! Like Meowth is to his humans!”

“Yeah!” they all agreed.

“Good on ya, Timmy,” Meowth muttered as he gave him one final wave. The group were rapidly disappearing into the distance.

“Well, maybe we should go be more alright without him some more…” Jessie said to James, quite loudly now the group had left. They had both seemed to have completely missed the part where Timmy compared them to Pokémon, and they were still having their own conversation in the background, so Meowth didn’t even want to look at what position the two newly formed lovebirds might be in. He continued to watch until the group had completely gone out of sight between the trees.

After a few moments, Meowth faced the fact that he would have to address them again at some point. He sighed, steeling himself and turning around to face Jessie and James.

Of course, they were just staring at each other like each were the only thing in existence. James was holding Jessies hands again, and Jessie looked so tender it once again seemed like an intrusion to be looking at her with such an expression on her face. Meowth felt he didn’t have the right to speak and break such a quiet moment, which he realised was actually quite sweet, now that he wasn’t depending on them to save his life.

“Meowth is staring at us,” Jessie said thoughtfully to James.

“Meowth, why are you staring at us?” James said, looking away from Jessie to Meowth. Jessie’s gaze lingered on James a moment longer, before she too turned to fix her fierce look on the scratch-cat.

He took a deep breath, closing his eyes, “dis… dis is real sweet to see, and I’m honestly happy for youse two, but…” His eyes snapped open.

“YOU IDIOTS YA CAN’T JUST GO KISSIN’ EACH OTHER IN DA MIDDLE OF DA MOTTO NO MATTA HOW IN LOVE YA ARE, ITS EMBARASSIN, ARE YA ABSOLUTELY CRAZY?!”

“MEOOWTHHHHH!” they wailed simultaneously.

“That-that was simply for theatrics!” Jessie insisted stubbornly, not so discreetly stomping on James’ foot when he gave her a pout. “_Hush!_” she shushed.

“Oh, really? Ya seemed to be enjoying it a little too much for it just ta be for theratics!” Meowth pointed out a little slyly.

Jessie spluttered, her face going bright red. “Oh, go chase your tail or whatever you mindless creatures do! We saved you back there!”

“Fine, I’ll play along – for now,” Meowth said, huffing. He didn’t expect them to admit anything anyway, but a little guidance here would be nice. Then again, if anyone needs guidance, it’s Jessie and James. He gave them a lop-sided smile, feeling affectionate, nonetheless.

“I can see dat my life being in danger has interrupted your plans for da day,” he continued sarcastically. “In da unlikely event either of ya come to ya senses and require da genius of Meowth, I’ll be under dat bush over dere, hiding in case any other psychotic trainers come by. Ya know, since youse two are Pokémon thieves and all dat,” he pointed out, highlighting the fact that neither of them had even attempted to steal a single Pokémon today.

“We didn’t even get to battle anyone Meowth!” James complained. “That boy was too busy making speeches!”

“Well, dat ain’t my problem! Just call me when ya wanna go find Pikachu! I’ve had enough!” With that, Meowth turned to bounce off on all fours and curl up, glad to re-enter his quiet slumber.

Neither of the two humans seemed particularly perturbed by the scratch-cat’s words, nor did they seem to have the electric rodent on their minds. Jessie simply waited a few moments, her eyes shut peacefully as she leant into James’ touch. Then, when she was absolutely certain they were alone, she moved with the swiftness of an Arbok – going in for the kill.

“_Finally,_” she hissed, flinging her arms around James’ neck and nearly sending them both to the ground. “James do you remember what you were doing before those twerps interrupted us?” She said innocently, knowing full well that he did.

“Yes, _oh yes_,” he whispered, now having a firm hold of her waist, their bodies pressed against one another.

“Well, would you like to resume that?” she said impatiently, her lust-filled gaze making his head feel light. “Because the way you were kissing me out there seemed to suggest you _do_.”

“Yes,” James whimpered, her fingernails on his scalp as her hands wracked through his hair, slowly and sensuously. Lavender hair fell silkily through her fingertips. Every strand was _hers_, and alarmingly, Jessie wanted him to possess her with equal fervour, to cherish her the way his earnest gaze suggested he did.

She leant her head into his shoulder, finding this firework of a feeling too pleasurable to rush. “Come on, James… take me back to where we were…” She purred into his ear.

“I don’t remember…_where_ we were… it all looks the same,” he said, his innocent nature deciding to pop up now, of all times.

Jessie pressed herself closer still, in order to dispel her annoyance. “Find another patch of grass, lay me down, and fuck me like you were already planning to!” she growled.

James inhaled sharply, and Jessie grinned into his shoulder. But James wasn’t responding like she wanted him to; he was just clinging to her and breathing her in, and it only made her want him more.

“Do you want me?” she demanded to know, and he moaned, and for a moment they were back in the blissful ignorance of the world they had created before the twerp gang ruined everything.

James clutched her. “_I want you,_” he growled, sending a violent shiver down her spine at the under-familiar huskiness his voice now possessed.

“Good,” Jessie breathed out. “Then take me. Go on. I’m yours,” she said, simply waiting for him to make the next move.

_James is not very good with these sorts of things_, Jessie realised, when he remained dazed and unmoving despite how forward she was being. Whilst it was ridiculously attractive that he seemed completely enamoured with her (an obvious thing she had only just discovered somehow) his lack of enthusiasm was starting to anger her immensely. Why did SHE always have to do all the work on this team!

“JAMES!” Jessie roared, leaning back to fix him a _look._

“What!!” James complained, pouting at her_. Don’t look so adorable you idiot you know what you’re not doing! _

“I JUST TOLD YOU TO HAVE YOUR WAY WITH ME AND YOU ARE DOING NOTHING!” she shrieked, whacking him on the shoulder a few times. She crossed her arms angrily, glowering at his confused face.

“Do you even _want_ to have sex with me?!”

“I do Jessie!” he cried desperately. His face was turning crimson. 

“Well, you’re not acting like it!” she huffed, staring him down as if he were an opponent rather than a lover. She put her arms around his neck, becoming playful again. “Is anyone home in that pretty little head of yours?”

At last, there was some indication of life. James nodded slowly, maintaining intense eye contact with her and placing his hand on the back of her thigh. He lifted it to his hip. She gave him a single nod of approval.

“Can’t I just kiss you again?”

“Oh my god, YES! YOU CAN. PLEASE DO THAT_.”_

“Yes ma’am!” James said eagerly, cutting to the chase and placing his lips directly onto Jessie’s. His hand dug into her thigh, the other clutching her waist. She twisted her heel around his leg in anticipation.

He begun kissing her in a way she was convinced should be illegal, which made it perfect for them – she would hate to ruin the villainous streak. Her heart was beating wildly again, and a giddy rush begun to dominate her as James’ lips tenderly ravished hers. She still couldn’t quite believe how _this_, shamelessly kissing her teammate, felt completely natural. The thought spurred her on and she pushed her lips harder against his, opening her mouth to allow him full access. He kissed her over and over, licking, sucking, biting gently into her lips. Both his arms now encircled her waist, his hands roamed possessively across her back. Jessie simply grasped onto his shirt and yanked him closer in a way which clearly conveyed he could not escape now. He was just so gentle, but passionate (as she would’ve guessed), spontaneous, yet always considerate. It drove her mad how wild this was making her.

In return for his affection, she pulled back, licked across his entire mouth, then kissed him with a bruising intensity. She was gripping his jaw too tightly, she knew – but he didn’t complain, just let out a long moan into her mouth.

Her hands suddenly clutched his collar once again and she pulled him along with her as she stumbled backwards, simply hoping they’d just _find_ somewhere appropriate to fall. Their clothes were dirty, and James’ were torn in places (curtesy of the Pidgeot), so at this point, it didn’t really matter where they ended up. Hell, they could land in a pond. She just wasn’t prepared to let him give up the one thing he seemed to be able to do pretty damn well. As long as he continued kissing her with this force, she could survive everything else. Dammit she could more than survive. 

They eventually fell over a bush, both squealing with melodrama. The impact caused them to break apart clumsily, and for a moment, James simply lay sprawled on top of Jessie, panting along with her. He soon pushed himself up by his arms to meet her sparkling gaze below him.

“We should… do this all the time…” Jessie breathed.

He grinned devilishly. “Whatever you want is yours.”

“Well, then…”

With a sultry smirk, she leant up to resume the kiss and take what was rightfully hers… only to find herself falling onto her back once again.

The sound of her screech momentarily deafened her teammate. To Jessie, it had felt as if someone had pulled her away from him by the hair, and when she whipped her head around to yell at the culprit, she found only her beautiful locks snagged in the bush’s branches.

She was outraged. Not only did it prevent her from kissing James, it was causing her perfect hair possible trauma! She growled angrily, thinking of the split ends, her expression indicating she was ready to fight the bush if necessary.

James felt quite the opposite, once his ears had stopped ringing. His half-smile spoke of the surge of love created by the sight of her, and he chuckled at her adorable expression, reaching over to help untangle her crimson hair. She continued to growl and quiver with rage, gave her hair an impatient pull, and fell over again. The pain of her scalp being sharply tugged only upset her further.

“Wa-ahh! James, my h-h-hair!” she wailed, clearly distressed.

“Shhhh, come on now sweetheart, Jessie, it’s okay, it’s okay!” James cooed.

“I CAN’T BE BLAD!” she shrieked.

“I know, I understand, please calm down. Look it’s nearly free now…”

He softly kissed her on the temple to soothe her, then went back to working on the ensnared locks. Although Jessie was, of course, still adamant that the bush deserved her most evil of glares, the gesture caused her to blush ever so slightly. She looked up at James; a mixture of anger and love on her face.

Whilst she gazed at him, or in other words, whilst she remained calm, James finally managed to free her. He offered the end of her hair to her and she took it wordlessly, stroking it between her fingers.

“Tah-dah!” he sang happily.

“James, it’s not a magic trick,” she said. Despite the unimpressed tone of her voice, she was smiling widely.

James grinned back at her, his arms quivering as he leant down to capture her smiling lips in a slow kiss. She immediately returned the gesture and melted into his affection, placing her hands on the side of his neck and allowing herself to be scooped into his embrace. When he pulled away, Jessie was struck with wonder. 

“How’s _that_ for a magic trick?” James said suavely. _Smooth, James. Smooth. _

Jessie rolled her eyes, “Oh, be quiet!” Her face was heating up and she would hate for him to get too big for his boots.

“I don’t get why we didn’t kiss before,” she added after a pause, seeming to agree with him nonetheless - as her intense blushing had indicated in the first place. Although any inflation to his ego she would insist was unintentional on her part.

Then a thought seemed to come to her, and the next thing James knew; she had punched him right in neck.

“Owwww!” he sobbed, dropping her from his arms as if she were on fire, hands flying to clutch at his aching neck. “What _on earth_ was that for!”

Tears sprung into his green eyes, blurring his vison of her. No longer was he glowing with pride. It seemed cupids’ arrow had come to strike him in the form of Jessie’s fist, though cupid needn’t have bothered. James had always known the angel of love was simply Jessie welding a mallet at him.

“How _dare _you be so good at kissing and never kiss _me_!” she exclaimed, completely offended. At the sound of this, James basically scrambled across the floor towards her, scuttling on his hands and knees as if his life depended on it.

“I’m sorry Jess!” he cried, grasping at her legs. “Believe me, I _wanted_ to kiss you!” he pleaded desperately into her thighs.

“WHAT!?” Jessie cried, furious, again. She was rapidly becoming flustered - definitely not because of his hot breath on her bare, and oh so sensitive, skin. James was shaking with an obvious regret for what he had admitted.

“You… you wanted to kiss me and _chose_ not to!?” she sputtered.

Green eyes looked up at her in pure astonishment. “It wasn’t a _decision!_” he said, quite confused. _Was it!? _To be honest, he was expecting an entirely different reaction from her. Jessie was absolutely fuming, not because he had wanted to kiss her… but because he hadn’t done so?

“You had the opportunity on numerous occasions, and you just did NOTHING?” she jabbed a finger at his head.

“I was scared! I thought you would’ve been furious if I did!” he squeaked.

“NOT IF YOU HAD KISSED ME LIKE _THAT_ YOU IDIOT!” Jessie shouted, grabbing James by the collar and squaring up to him, raising them both onto their knees.

“I’M SORRY! HOW WAS I TO MAGICALLY KNOW YOU WANTED TO MAKE OUT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FOREST!” James _roared._

Jessie froze and blinked, taken-aback by _that_.

“_James!_” she gasped quietly. Her grip on him vanished and she shrunk down, cheeks flaring. James was also blushing, immensely embarrassed. 

“I-I was kidding…” she said, though she had very much sounded like she was not.

“S-sorry about that-“ he began, only to be cut off by Jessie, who seemed to be intensely pre-occupied.

“I didn’t mean I had _alway_s wanted too…um… I just…um…”

_Only now and then_, she wanted to say, heating up inside as she suddenly realised this fact.

“Jessie it’s okay, don’t worry about it,” James said nervously, but she was not listening.

_Only sometimes_.

When he had said the right thing to make her flare with affection or fell on top of her after a blast off, she admits, she might’ve had the overwhelming urge to kiss him silly. Of course, she never allowed herself to actually_ think_ about it, more like, it just happened to cross her mind _occasionally_.

Until her brain had decided to think about it for her, that is. Last night’s dream had thrown her off completely. Not that she was able to remember it much after what had happened today. On this note, Jessie nervously peered up at James, finding herself being watched as she had suspected.

“Please, don’t worry about it,” he said again, green eyes earnest. Jessie _knew_ he could see right through her.

She felt immensely vulnerable all of a sudden, emotions spilling from her with no way to control where they went. Jessie didn’t know how to react to James knowing this piece of information about her - especially when she hadn’t even fully acknowledged it herself.

She bared her teeth in defence and shouted at him instead.

“WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT!?”

They stared at each other in silence. Then James burst out laughing.

The laughter broke the awkward tension, shattered it, and Jessie was secretly grateful for this. James was always able to make her feel more at ease, and so she allowed herself to laugh along too, glad that their recent activities hadn’t ruined their carefree friendship.

“You’re so beautiful Jess, who doesn’t want to look at you?” he simply said. It reminded her of when he’d last said such a thing. A warmth filled her, but Jessie wasn’t letting him get away that easily.

“If I’m so beautiful - and I am by the way - how come you never kissed me?” she said moodily, crossing her arms and looking away from him.

“You never indicated you could be interested in me like that before today!” he complained. He crossed his own arms to mirror her.

“What the _hell_ James, yes, I did!” she snapped, looking at him hotly for a moment. “I flirted with you that one time!”

“Jessie, I honestly have no Idea what you think flirting is, but I am pretty sure that wasn't it.”

“Urgh!” He-he was just dense! _I am an excellent flirter,_ she reassured herself. “Whatever James, that’s not the point!”

“Then what _is_?!” James cried desperately, immensely confused once again.

“You could’ve at least tried. You didn’t have to be _so_ cowardly.”

She did not see the situation in the same light as James. To Jessie, it seemed as if he just didn’t care enough to take the risk. It was only because she had initiated it that it eventually happened. How was she to know he wasn’t just going along with her as he always, trailing behind her every step? This is what she thought definitely, until James spoke.

“Why, _why_ would I kiss you if I thought it would upset you?” he queried, his voice gentle, yet small and insecure. His eyes were steadily on hers again. James' eyes could carry the world in them. James' eyes carried everything he felt and gave them back to her in forest green beauty. She'd seen his eyes countless times and yet, each time she did, he had something new sparkling in them. Now he looked like a child.

Jessie blinked, letting this sink in. She’d done it again. James always showed care and concern for her before anything else, and she had punched him in the neck and just called him a coward right after he had helped her so sweetly.

Gloved fingers tightened into fists. 

“Jessie?” James said, noticing she’d gone quiet. He saw her drawn stance and recognised that she was closing herself off. Her near constant presence and their perpetual synchronisation meant that he knew her every expression and tendency as if they were his own, understood her thoughts before she even spoke them aloud. Such intimacy only made him love her more fiercely.

“James…” Jessie whimpered almost inaudibly, and that was all he needed to react. He reached out and took her hands, clasping them in own. As soon as he did, she looked up at him, eyes full of emotion. Her fists relaxed within his hands and a tear spilled quietly over her cheek.

“Jess, I never want to hurt you, or make you feel threatened. You deserve to be treated with respect,” James told her desperately, never breaking her gaze.

“I had no idea you would be happy if I… kissed you,” he continued. They both blushed at the word as he said it, as if _worse _hadn’t already been said, as if they hadn’t _already_ kissed. The delicate nature of the moment seemed to make every touch they had shared mean more, and James couldn’t let Jessie believe anything but the truth. Not when he would do _anything _for her. He took a breath and told her.

“Jessie, _I love you. _That’s what I was going to tell you before I backed down and ran away. I just never thought you would want that sort of attention from me, and so I would never force it on you. But truthfully... you mean everything to me. I'll never truly mind being blasted off, as long as it's with you.”

“James,” Jessie whispered, now staring into his eyes, hers teary. “Is all that true?”

“Would I lie to you Jessica!” he cried passionately, pulling out his rose to flourish. “After all we’ve been through?”

“Oh, James,” Jessie sighed, throwing her arms around him and snuggling her face into his neck. He hugged her in return, always happy in the embrace of his partner.

“You romantic idiot. I… I love you too,” she whispered, her voice shaking ever so slightly. “I was just afraid,” she admitted softly. “I didn’t know if you’d catch me... you have terrible depth perception…”

James laughed softly, leaning back to smile at her. She placed one hand on his cheek. Her expression was smitten, her romantic side spilling through her armour, a sweet smile gracing her lips as she stared up at him through her lashes.

“Will you do something for me?” she asked.

“Of course I will, dearest…“ he murmured, his fingers gently stroking a strand of hair back behind her ear.

With the sunlight still casting kisses upon her skin, and the knowledge that everyone she loved was safe… perhaps it wasn’t such a bad day after all.

“TAKE OFF MY DAMN SHIRT ALREADY!”

**Author's Note:**

> My first Pokemon fanfic!! So be nice I guess. Thanks for reading.


End file.
